This humorous essay at Cracked.com by David Wong has a lot of truth in it about the change we are now seeing in how the economy functions, as so many goods and services are produced using automation: And if someday we do perfect cold-fusion reactors or nanotech manufacturing and everyone has 100 GB/second Wi-Fi connections downloading… Continue reading Forced Artificial Scarcity: the economy of the future
Historical note: back when I ran sci.nanotech, it was my tradition to post this poem every Christmas, in a spirit of light-hearted fun. We here at Foresight wish all our readers the merriest of seasons greetings, and hope that you all are safe, warm, and enjoying your holidays with family and friends! A Visit… Continue reading A Visit from Saint Assembler
As we move into a long holiday weekend here in the U.S., it’s time to indulge in a lighter moment in nanotech. Being suspicious of a sponsored link by Target on a “nanotechnology” search results page, I clicked on it to find this page of four highlighted products: Benny the Bear Memory Foam Plush Bear… Continue reading And the winner for oddest nanotechnology ad goes to…
Forbes.com did a poll to find out what human body enhancements their readers would most like. The poll seems to be gone, but nanotechnology commentator Gregor Wolbring quotes it in his own column: Smarter brain (403 votes – 29 %) Wings (230 votes – 17 %) Breathe underwater (147 votes – 11 %) Stylish, furry… Continue reading Nanotechnology: Enhancement goals for human body
Our friends over at Nanowerk have put together a light-hearted little nanotechnology IQ test which nanotech trackers might enjoy. Some questions are fun: Question 12: Which of these well-known phrases from Star Trek depends on the (fictional) use of nanotechnology? Some not so much: Question 19: A silver coin with a diameter of 4 cm… Continue reading Test your nanotechnology IQ
Richard Jones brings to our attention an amusing note on which to end the nanotechnology workweek: A pointer to a Technology Review blog in German by Niels Boeing which compares Drexler to Elvis and the UK’s Software Control of Matter project to the Beatles. Roughly translated: It’s intringuingly reminiscent of the history of pop music,… Continue reading Nanotechnology, Elvis, and the Beatles
EurActiv.com reports on a citizens’ panel on nanotechnology held by the Ile de France region: Citizens find nanotechs ‘elitist’ A citizens’ conference on nanotechnologies in France found public information on nanosciences difficult to access for non-specialists. The report itself (PDF) is in French, but an Altavista automatic translation gives English speakers some limited access: Efforts… Continue reading French citizen panel: Nanotechnology is too technical
To close out our nanotechnology week on a lighter note: David Berube brings to our attention an irreverent video excerpt — The Daily Show: Future Shock – Robots! — in which Ray Kurzweil is interviewed on the topic of nanobots (nanotech-based robots). Also included is a profile of Mikey Sklar who has injected an RFID… Continue reading Nanobots on The Daily Show
The Woodrow Wilson Center Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies has a cute short (8:25) movie posted in which Bethany Maynard interviews her dad Dr. Andrew Maynard and Dr. Barbara Karn on nanotech. Worth showing to kids, and even adults may enjoy it. The best part is when Bethany and her brother Alex apply mustard to her… Continue reading Fun little movie on green nanotechnology
As we head into a holiday weekend here in the U.S., here’s a lighter item. Those wishing the very latest in nanomedical care will want to check out RYT Hospital’s Nanodocs program: RYT Hospital patients can monitor their health in real-time via nanotech robots, or NanoDocs, which live and travel within their blood and tissue.… Continue reading For the very latest in nanotech medical care
