Here at Foresight our main focus is on longer-term technologies such as molecular manufacturing, but we keep an eye on what’s arriving along the nearer-term pathways as well. In 2007 I attended a workshop on “Nanotechnology for Chemical and Biological Defense” and the proceedings volume of that meeting, with the same name, is now available.… Continue reading Nanotechnology for chemical and biological defense: the book
The Nanomanufacturing Summit, held in Boston recently, was largely what you would have expected — near-term bulk-tech approaches to nanostructured materials, some interesting research aimed at new electronics, and so forth. Notable, however, was a plenary talk by M. C. Roco, who appears to have changed his tune to the extent of predicting nanorobotics and… Continue reading Nanorobots from the NNI?
From Azonano: Physicists to Brief Media and Public on Real Science of Antimatter On May 15, 2009, Sony Pictures will release “Angels and Demons,” and bring the world’s largest particle physics laboratory to the silver screen. Based on Dan Brown’s best-selling novel, this major motion picture, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard, focuses… Continue reading Antimatter
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
“It is time we do what’s necessary to make NANO the next national priority.”–U.S. Rep. Michael Honda, D-San Jose
A response to my “Parricide” essay has been seen on IEEE’s Tech Talk blog. Dexter Johnson gives a fair summary of the positions taken to date, and says As the argument seems to go, Drexler popularized the term nanotechnology in his book Engines of Creation, and so when the general public heard that thousands of… Continue reading The nanotechnology we were promised
Following up on recent posts about concern in the insurance industry and in Congress about risk management practices for (current and near-term) nanotechnology, David Forrest passes along this news of recent action at EPA: The EPA has published their Interim Report on the Nanomaterials Stewardship Program and continues to invite comment for the final version.… Continue reading EPA encourages input to develop risk management practices for nanotechnology
The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, via AAAS EurekAlert, brings us an update on federal efforts to address the potential environmental, health and safety (EHS) risks posed by engineered nanomaterials. “New House bill addresses need for more risk research, oversight“: The House Science and Technology Committee [on January 15] introduced legislation that highlights the growing attention… Continue reading Nanotechnology oversight issues moving forward in Congress
From the February 2009 issue of the “science is culture” publication Seed magazine, not yet online: Hypothesis: Civil Nanotechnology Starting in 2009, nanotech-based sensing will enable a level of environmental monitoring that could help reduce pollution tremendously. Such devices could be of immense benefit to the environment, but unfortunately, without careful attention they will trigger… Continue reading Civil nanotechnology: Open source sensing in Seed magazine
Christian Joachim (who shared the Foresight Nanotech Institute Feynman Prize in the Experimental category in 1997 and won in the Theoretical category in 2005) is heading a group of researchers working to bring about atomic-scale computing. ScienceDaily led us to this European Commission ICT Results feature “Computing in a molecule“, which describes their on-going efforts:… Continue reading Toward atomic-scale computing with nanotechnology
