A nanotech-based gene-therapy method that dramatically improved the efficiency of conventional cancer therapy in animal models is now undergoing clinical trials.
Evolution has adapted what were the bones of the fingers of the bat’s ancestors to form the skeleton of its wing. Similarly, in technology, when one element of a system is capable of expanding to take up new functions, it can substitute for what might have been expected to be different ways to achieve the… Continue reading Bat Wings
Two research groups have published two different ways to unzip carbon nanotubes to create graphene ribbons.
Earth day is April 22 and it is appropriate to think about the future of the Earth and its biosphere. The key word here is think. What popularly passes for environmental concern today has evolved into something much more resembling a religion than scientifically-informed values. Unfortunately, as with many religions, the resulting memetic structure can… Continue reading Earth Day as if Earth mattered
Using a magnetic bead to slowly pull a DNA molecule through a solid-sate nanopore looks promising as the basis for a very fast and efficient nanotech DNA sequencing method.
MIT scientists have demonstrated the usefulness of biological frameworks for combining distinct functional elements to make a device.
Reading this essay by Peter Thiel, I was struck by an amusing (though almost certainly coincidental) parallel. Thiel mentions three areas in which people interested in freedom may manage to get out from under the thumb of excessive government: cyberspace, seasteading, and outer space. The parallel is to three fronts on which people are pursuing… Continue reading Mindsteading
Two papers in a recent issue of Science suggest that graphene is rapidly moving from being “just” a nanotech wonder material to becoming relevant to atomically precise nanotechnologies.
I recently heard a talk by Patri Friedman about seasteading. Seasteading means “homesteading the sea,” or at least building floating cities and establishing permanent residences there, and ultimately alternative polities in hopes of enabling beneficial economic competition in the field of governance. Before saying more, let me point out that I am generally in agreement… Continue reading Does seasteading need nanotech?
A catalyst can be switched on and off using mechanical means.
