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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Category: Found On Web

UN University updates futures scenarios

from the imagineering dept.
Craig Hubley writes "The American Committee for the United Nations University, which I worked with for some years, recently updated its Global Scenarios which have been compiled since 1997 and include both "normative" and "exploratory" styles, in time ranges to 2025, 2500, and 3000. Of most interest are issues with respect to temporal mechanics and quantum entanglement, inter-species ethics, and the fact that almost all scenarios assume that nanotech will be used by military and "terrorist" organizations at some point. Despite that, a positivist pro-technology tone prevails throughout."

Read more for Craigís take on some of the scenarios.

RPI Starts Nanotechnology Research Center

willgorman submitted this item on the creation of the Center for Nanotechnology Research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York. According to the press release, research areas of the Center will include advanced materials and coatings, biosciences and biotechnology, nanoelectronics, microelectronics, and nanosystems. In addition, a new research effort on potential socioeconomic impacts will be initiated to understand the impact of nanotechnology on industry and society.

In a related item, RPI and Zyvex Corporation recently formed a two-year collaboration designed to develop new microsystems capabilities. Under that agreement, Zyvex and RPI will explore MEMS assembly and packaging technologies through the cooperation of Zyvex's and RPI's research and development facilities.

Micro (nano) Assembly Proposed by metal industry

from the Industry-outlook dept.
ErenNano writes:
"I found this article while surfing the web. Itís a collection of predictions about where technology is leading, and nano assemblers were mentioned under the term Micro Assembly. An excerpt:
ìThe period of 2030 through the 2050s in manufacturing will be typified by the developments of microfabrication, virtual marketing and testing, and biocomputing. Microfabrication will be the most sweeping transformation for manufacturing since the advent of the computer. It will allow the fabrication of materials and parts at the molecular level, building them with the features we desire (strength, weight, flexibility, and so forth) at incredible levels of material efficiency . . . [W]ith the advent of nanotechnology, microscopic assemblers will grasp reactive molecules and combine them only in preplanned and controlled ways. Through these controlled and repetitive combinations, complex structures may be built up a few atoms at a time . . . The resulting material, and therefore the structure produced, will be many times stronger and lighter than traditional ones. Indeed, they will be stronger and lighter than anything we can build today."

Homo Excelsior meme bank update

from the Browsing-the-future dept.
pmoss sends a reminder of the expanding resources on the Homo Excelsior website, which he describes as "a central database of science and technology that is peer-reviewed and . . . is generally concerned with the memes related to nanotechnology, megascale engineering, cryopreservation, uploading and other associated sciences and technologies."

The Future of MEMS is NEMS

from the Big-bugs-have-little-bugs dept.
Waldemar Perez calls our attention to an article on NanoElectroMechanical Systems (NEMS) in Technology Review Magazine ("NEMS: Machines Get Tiny," by David Voss, April 2001). In his opinion, Mr. Perez writes, "NEMS research promises to give us machines on the nanometer scale, [but this is] exactly there were critics argue Brownian motion will destroy them or make these machines unworkable and unreliable . . . these first generation NEMS prototypes will suffer from high wear (a well known problem on MEMS) until we can incorporate into them Drexler-type nanobearings and other devices."

Drexler Debunked? And Auschwitz, too.

from the bad-signal-to-noise-ratio dept.
MarkGubrud writes of his encouter with Lyle Burkhead's "geniebusters" site: "From a post to the Mind-X bulletin board at Ray Kurzweil's splashy new website, we learn of the existence of an actual "critique" of the idea of nanotechnology, specifically as described by Drexler and followers of his ideas. Since the absence in the literature of any scholarly papers examining Nanosystems or other published scholarly work on the theory of assembler-based nanotech stands in glaring contrast to the offhand dismissal of this body of work by some famous scientists and science journalists, I was eager to have a look at this putative coup de grace, at www.geniebusters.org.

"I find that this website makes a number of interesting points, but fails to support its overall position, which is an aggressive denunciation of Eric Drexler's Engines of Creation and the idea of assembler-based nanotechnology."

Editor's Note: Burkhead's site has been up on the web for some time (well over a year), but his "critique" hasn't generated much interest. Read more from Mark Gubrud's comments to see why . . .

Boeing VP Dreams of Nanotechnology

from the Poetry-in-action dept.

Senior Associate Paul Melnyk calls our attention to a forward-looking address ("Dream to Make Something Happen") delivered by David O. Swain, Senior VP of Engineering & Technology for The Boeing Company, and also president of Phantom Works, the research and development organization of the company. The talk was delivered last October at the ASM International Materials Solutions Conference.
"Nanoscale science and engineering most likely will produce the strategic technology breakthroughs of tomorrow," Swain said. "Our ability to work at the molecular level, atom by atom, to create something new, something we could manufacture from the 'bottom up,' opens up huge vistas . . . There are huge possibilities." Swain concluded his address with a "call for action." He said: "I believe in what poet Carl Sandburg wrote: 'Nothing happens unless you first dream.' We need to dream again. Dream about new formulas, new metals, new materials. Dream about nanoscience, nanoengineering, nanotechnology. Dream about the possibilities, the opportunities, and then make our dreams come true. Then, and only then, can we unlock exciting frontiers with our discoveries."

ASM is a society for professionals concerned with industry, technology and applications of metals and materials, and has over 40,000 members who are engineers, managers, scientists, researchers, teachers, students, marketers, equipment manufacturers and suppliers. The Institute for Molecular Manufacturing co-sponsored a special session dedicated to molecular nanotechnology at the same conference. Swain's address and the IMM-sponsored session helped provide an overview of molecular nanotechnology to a part of the materials community that has been largely insulated from progress in this area.

Freitas on "Tangible Nanomoney"

from the ununquadium-standard dept.
RobertBradbury writes "In this article,"Tangible Nanomoney," Robert A. Freitas, Jr., the Zyvex Research Scientist and IMM Research Fellow, whom we all know as the paradigm defining author of Nanomedicine, outlines possible strategies for developing tangible nanomoney. Are his proposals feasible and desirable? Should we be planning the nanomints of tomorrow?
This was originally published in the Nanotechnology Industries Newsletter. Kudos to Robert Bradbury for helping make it available on the web. Read More for more questions.

"Pick-and-place" nanoassembly system wins prize

from the 1,000,000-dpi dept.
epw wrote in about the "Pick-and-Place" Nanoassembly System that was discussed on Slashdot as "Hubert's Interesting Nanoassembler." Brian Hubert won the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for this invention, as reported by Nando Media/AP. His Úwebsite has good pictures and diagrams. It's not molecular nanotechnology as in precise control of individual atoms, but still seems like an interesting development using atomic force microscopes. Read more for the introductory text from the website. "Unlike the prior art, this system can be used to pattern essentially any type of material. …"

Nano simulation tools available

from the punching-ahead dept.
Anonymous Coward writes "This site offers some nano simulation tools for free http://www.nanohub.purdue.edu/"It would be helpful to have comments from anyone who has used these tools.

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