A role for nanotech applications can be seen in the responses to the US energy crisis made by both candidates for the US Presidency.
For those of us who can’t get enough nanotechnology info, now there’s a one-hour radio show/podcast every week to download and enjoy while you drive or work out, hosted by industry analyst Marlene Bourne: “Next-generation science and technology, and the cool products that are being developed as a result, are captivating subjects,” said Ms. Bourne.… Continue reading Get your nanotechnology radio fix
The popular NSF-funded Earth & Sky radio series — “illuminating pathways to a vibrant and sustainable future for over six million people daily” — has been focusing on nanotech for quite a while now (see list). Most recently is an interview (description and download) looking at the question of nanotechnology-based sensors and privacy: As technology… Continue reading Nanotechnology sensors raise privacy issues
Howard Miller brings our attention to a big section on nanotech at National Geographic this month (June 2006 issue). You can get a taste of it on their website, but for the main article, it looks as though you’ll need to get ahold of the dead-tree version. An excerpt from the description: A tsunami is… Continue reading Nano's big future at National Geographic
Prof. David Berube’s new book has just been published: Nano-Hype: The Truth Behind the Nanotechnology Buzz. From the publisher: “Nanotechnology, the science of molecular engineering at the atomic scale, has captured the popular imagination. From movies to TV series to video games, utopian fantasies and horror scenarios involving nanotechnology have become a staple of the… Continue reading Book on Nano-Hype just published
Paul C. Easton writes "Former Foresight Update editor Lew Phelps brings to our attention that The World & I magazine is soliciting articles about nanotechnology. Specific topics may include nanotechnology applications in materials design, electronics, robotics, health care, environment, energy conversion, transportation, and national security. Articles on the ethical and social implications of nanotechnology will also be considered."
dsiegel_spkn writes "Get a two year degree in nanotech [at Chippewa Valley Technical College]. Well, not quite yet."
WesDuCharme writes "Glenn Reynolds has an interesting piece entitled A Tale of Two Nanotechs http://www.techcentralstation.com/012804A.html. He makes the case that the business community is pulling us away from molecular nanotechnology for fear of the public relations problems that advanced applications may cause. In making the case, however, he oversimplifies the dichotomy, ìThe downside is that a sometimes-bitter war has been waged within the nanotechnology community itself, between the scientists and visionaries on the one hand, and the business people on the other. The scientists and visionaries want research on advanced nanotechnologyÖî Of course there are some scientists, such as Richard Smalley (whom Glenn mentions later), who seem squarely on the side of the business community in this matter. The article goes on to make good arguments that what we might call ìbusiness relinquishmentî is unlikely to work."
A lengthy article in the Winston-Salem (North Carolina) Journal ("Small Miracles: Micromachines are being developed that may offer mankind great benefits – or threaten its very existence", by Kevin Begos, 14 April 2002) rehashes much of the mass media shorthand on nanotech weíve seen so often before: "Many researchers, government officials and venture capitalists are saying that over the next few decades, the effect of such inventions on society may dwarf what has happened in the computer or telecommunications revolutions. Skeptics see a dark side to such a future. Humans may well be able to make such products, they say — but may not be able to control them after they're unleashed on the world." We get warmed-over visions of advanced nanotech applications, Bill Joyís worries over human obsolescence, government funding, venture capitalists ñ the usual stew.
Read more for some of the more interesting bits.
According to a press release (16 April 2002), the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) has begun ramping up its nanotechnology research efforts at the UTD NanoTech Institute established last year, on news that it won two grants worth a total of $1.8 million in initial annual funding from the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The projects being funded will involve collaboration among researchers at UTD, as well as at major universities and research institutes throughout the U.S. and in other countries.
Additional coverage, though not much, is available in an article from the Dallas Business Journal ("UTD NanoTech Institute gets $1.8M in grants", 15 April 2002), which basically reprinted the UTD press release with a few additional details thrown in. "This is leading-edge science and precisely what we had in mind when we brought two of the top nanotechnology experts in the world to UTD last fall," Franklyn Jenifer, president of UTD, said in a statement. "Now that the UTD NanoTech Institute is up and running, the university is in a position to begin playing a pivotal role in helping realize the potential of nanotechnology."
