Oregon State researchers led by Pui Shing Ho, professor and chair of the OSU Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, have “re-discovered” and are now exploring the uses of the halogen bond for nanotechnology. From the PNAS abstract: The halogen bond, a noncovalent interaction involving polarizable chlorine, bromine, or iodine molecular substituents, is now being exploited… Continue reading Nanotechnology machines may benefit from arcane bond
We mentioned earlier a request for comment on a proposed Nano Risk Framework for approaching nanotechnology materials safety organized by Environmental Defense and DuPont. Now a different group of organizations has come out against that framework. Their statement is titled “Civil Society-Labor Coalition Rejects Fundamentally Flawed DuPont-ED Proposed Framework“. An excerpt: We reject outright the… Continue reading Environmental groups dispute about nanotechnology
In the long term, we’ll need effective security techniques for advanced nanotechnology-based systems. This will take a while to figure out, so come help us do it at an upcoming open source conference, Penguicon: Open Source-style Security for the Whole Physical World Christine Peterson, Bruce Schneier One of the biggest problems society faces this century… Continue reading Open source security for nanotechnology
USA Today covers the challenging but environmentally important issue of making batteries: inefficient, nasty things today that need to get a lot better and cheaper. And they will, with nanotech developed by these two MIT professors: [Prof. Angela] Belcher’s virus-assembled batteries are thin, transparent sheets that look like plastic wrap. They could be used to… Continue reading Batteries will be everywhere with nanotechnology
Environmental Defense and DuPont are pleased to announce the public release of a DRAFT version of their Nano Risk Framework — a framework for the responsible development, production, use and disposal of nanoscale materials. They’d appreciate your feedback so that they can make this framework as effective, practical, and useful for as wide an audience… Continue reading Nanotechnology risk framework: your input requested
The company mPHASE points out that battery technology advance has been dismal compared to computer chips. Now they’ve used nanotechnology to build a more environmentally-friendly, longer shelf-life battery, and made a two-minute movie, posted on YouTube, to tell us about it. If the link doesn’t work for you, go to YouTube and search for nanobattery… Continue reading Finally, nanotechnology makes a greener battery
John Walker brings to our attention an apparently distressing set of concerns regarding the new version of Windows, known as Vista, written up by Peter Gutman as A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection. Excerpts: The only way to protect the HFS [Hardware Functionality Scan] process therefore is to not release any technical details… Continue reading Windows Vista: potential negative impact on nanotechnology
Public attitudes toward nanotechnology are being tracked closely — perhaps more closely than for any previous set of newly-arriving technologies. The surveys vary a bit, but here’s one by Prof. Steven Currall of University College London that fits my informal observations: One core finding of our research revealed that current public sentiment towards nanotechnology is… Continue reading Public still sensible about nanotechnology
We should assume that those participating the ETC Group’s nanotechnology hazard symbol contest are all trying to be helpful, and such a symbol may someday be of some use. However, of the three top symbols named as winners, the first one — by far the most vivid — has a real problem. First, see the… Continue reading Nanotechnology hazard symbol misleading
On the plane back from last week’s U.S. National Nanotechnology Coordinating Office-sponsored workshop on ethics and nanotechnology, I dug into the report “Health and Nanotechnology: Economic, Societal, and Institutional Impact” (not on web, as far as I can tell). This was the result of a meeting sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the… Continue reading Nanotechnology prof boggles nano community
