Category: Media Mentions

The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) hasnít been much in the news since it was established in December 2000, even though it is the largest government-supported research program (in terms of funding) after the federal National Nanotechnology Initiative. These two reports provide an update:

• An article in the Los Angeles Times ("Science, State, Business Bond in a Nanosystem", by James Flanigan, 13 August 2001) describes activity to build new facilities for CNSI, the growing coterie of corporate sponsors, and efforts to develop CNSI as a center for basic research as well as a business incubator to commercialize scientific and technological results.
• A lengthy profile of Martha Krebbs, former science director at the U.S. Department of Energy and now one of the directors of CNSI, on the Small Times website ("Experienced hand guides nanotech research from research to business level", by Jayne Fried, 15 August 2001) provides additional background and information on CNSI activities.

from the The-vision-thing dept.
Nanotechnology is the focus of a special issue of Scientific American (September 2001). About half of the articles are available online, including a relatively brief piece by Eric Drexler ("Machine Phase Nanotechnology").

However, the tenor of the other articles is, in general, either skeptical or openly hostile to the concept of machine phase chemistry or mechanosynthesis, as well as advanced applications, as pointed out by Sander Olson, who writes "Scientific American's latest issue has the cover story on nanotechnology. Although the issue has an article from Mr. Drexler ("Machine Phase Nanotechnology"), most of the articles are highly critical of Drexlerian nanotechnology concepts. In one article, Gary Stix claims that Drexler's contribution to nanotechnology will be akin to Star Trek's — a fantasy that will nevertheless encourage people to enter the field. In another article, George Whitesides argues that "The charm of the assembler is illusory: it is more appealing as metaphor than as reality, and less the solution of a problem than the hope for a miracle." "

Read more for the table of contents and links to the articles available online. Additional articles about nanotechnology from SA are also available, including the 1996 article from Gary Stix that triggered an extensive online rebuttal from Foresight.

from the self-replicating-bureaucracies dept.
According to an extensive article on the SmallTimes website ("U.S. studies its nanotech plan to make sure itís on right path", by Jeff Karoub, 22 August 2001), the U.S. government has launched two projects to review its nanotechnology research and development efforts. Two committees organized by the National Research Council (NRC), an independent advisory body under the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) serving the government, will conduct the reviews.

The first will be a Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), which will take about 1 year. An interim report is due in October 2001 and a final report in May 2002. Information on the project, including scope, committee membership, and committee meetings is available on the NAS web site.

The second review will involve officials from the U.S. Air Force and Defense Department, and will examine the role of micro- and nanotechnologies in the military and how they could improve weapons systems and capabilities. The NRC released a report in June 2001 that recommended the U.S. Army embrace advancements in biotechnology.

from the World-Watch dept.
Concern over Japanís ability to maintain a position in the first rank of nations pursuing nanotechnology research and development was raised in an article in the Japan Times ("Nanotechnology is seen having a massive future", by Yosuke Naito, 8 August 2001). According to the article, "nanotechnology is expected to become a fiercely contested area of global industrial competition in the 21st century."

The piece provides a brief survey of nanotech-related activity in the private, academic and government sectors in Japan, and compares those efforts to those in the U.S. and Europe. The report says, "Amid intensifying global competition, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has designated nanotechnology as a key strategic area of focus for strengthening the fundamentals of the industrial sector."

"Although the framework of cooperation among businesses, academics and the government is being formulated in the nanotechnology field, Japan should quickly see visible results from such cooperation," said Susumu Takahashi, chief economist at Japan Research Institute. "In terms of transforming new technology into business opportunities, Japan is lagging far behind the U.S."

Similar concerns expressed over the last year or so (see Foresight Update 44) have helped prompt greater support for nanotech research in both the public and private sector in Japan

from the tools-of-the-trade dept.
An article on the SmallTimes website ("Tools let scientists virtually reach out and touch a nanotube", by Candace Stuart, 9 Augusut 2001) provides an update on the NanoManipulator, an interactive device that coverts data from a scanning probe microscope into sensory information. High-power graphics programs let an operator see the sample three dimensionally and look at it from various perspectives. A control arm that fits in the hand like a pen allows researchers to guide the probe to any spot on the sample to "feel" it, and allows them to exert force on the molecule to move it around.
The NanoManipulator is the result of seven years of research and development by physics and computer science faculty and students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. UNC has created a company called 3rdTech, whose goal is to develop products and spin-off business from research at UNC. 3rdTech is commercializing the NanoManipulator system.

An article in Mass High Tech on 23 July 2001 reports that Northeastern University in Boston has established a Nano Manufacturing Research Institute. The new institute will also receive about $750,000 over four years to seed its research efforts, but will not have a dedicated faculty or laboratory facilities. The funds will allow the group to hire postdoctoral fellows and to attract students interested in nanotechnology. Fourteen Northeastern faculty members will take part in the nanotech institute. In addition, it will collaborate with researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, MIT, University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The director will be Ahmed Busnaina, a professor of mechanical engineering at Northeastern.