Category: Meetings & Conferences

from the Northwestern-goes-nano dept.
Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (near Chicago) is celebrating the establishment of its new Institute for Nanotechnology with a day-long Symposium on Emerging Molecule-Based Nanoscale Science and Technology. The symposium will also honor Morrison Professors Joseph T. Hupp and Mark A. Ratner. In addition to Hupp and Ratner, speakers will include Chad A. Mirkin, Director of the new Institute, Richard Smalley of Rice University, George Whitesides of Harvard University, Angela M. Belcher of the University of Texas at Austin, and Richard J. Colton of the Naval Research Laboratory. The symposium will be held on Monday, 21 May 2001 in the Technological Institute Lecture Room 3, at 2145 Sheridan Road in Evanston, Illinois. If you would like to attend, you can register online.

from the 21st-century-teach-in dept.
Ralph Merkle, a principal fellow at Zyvex Corp. and winner of the 1998 Feynman Prize, will lead a half-day public program on nanotechnology at the University of California Berkeley campus on Saturday, 5 May 2001 (That's this coming Saturday). Designed for the lay public, "Nanotechnology: Basic Concepts and Potential Applications" will take place on Saturday, May 5, from 1 to 5 p.m., in Dwinelle Hall on the UC Berkeley campus in Berkeley, California. The fee is $20. To register, call 510/642-4111 or register online. For more information see www.learningsphere.org/nanotech.htm.

At the four-hour public UC Berkeley Extension program, Dr. Merkle will explain the basic concepts of nanotechnology and the potential it offers in medicine, computer science, aerospace and the military, as well as other fields. He will examine how the development of this powerful technology could be best guided to maximize the benefits while minimizing any potential risks. The program is co-sponsored by the Foresight Institute.

from the Inventing-the-Future dept.

Foresight benefactor and associate MG Taylor will hold a TANSTAAFL DesignShop Event, "Coding the Transparent Society," on May 8-10 in Palo Alto, California, bringing together a community of people concerned with impact of the advent of the Internet, an "Information Revolution that will alter global societies as dramatically as the invention of the printing press over 500 years ago . . . The decisions we make regarding the design of cyberspace will have an ever greater impact on our everyday lives in the years to come."
You are invited to participate in the event, where critical issues concerning the future of society and of the global information infrastructure will be discussed, solutions explored and next steps designed.

Read More for a sampling of issues on the table . . .

from the Bring-your-questions dept.

The Stanford GSB Futurist Club will present a WIRED Conversation with Bill Joy, titled "Nirvana or Nightmare? Exploring the Technological Future," on Thursday, 5 April 2001.
Joy, cofounder and chief scientist of Sun Microsystems, will discuss his controversial Wired essay, "Why The Future Doesn't Need Us," (April 2000) with Katrina Heron, Editor in chief of Wired Magazine, followed by Q&A with the audience. Joy's essay, which has sparked heated debate in science, technology, ethics and policy circles since its publication, argues that imminent advances in genetics, robotics, and nanotechnology may pose grave threats to the future of humankind.

The event will be held at 5:30 pm on Thursday, 5 April 2001, in the Bishop Auditorium of the Graduate School of Business on the Stanford University campus. RSVP by Monday, 2 April to [email protected].

from the but-will-they-relinquish-when-you-tell-them-to dept.
ChrisPhoenix writes "Bill Joy will be speaking about "Genomics, Robotics, and Nanotechnology: Science and Religion Converse on the Shape of the Future" on Wednesday February 14, 2001, 7:30 p.m. at Grace Cathedral, 1051 Taylor St., Gresham Hall, Rooms 150-250, San Francisco. Details are at ctns.org. They'll have panel responses from several scientists, a theologian, and an ethicist. The event is put on by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, publishers of Science) and by the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences.

After you go to the talk, come back here and comment on it! Personally, I'm very interested in whether Mr. Joy has developed any viable plans yet for enforcing the limitations he wants to place on technology. Chris"

from the ensuring-friendly-super-intelligence dept.

The February Extropy Institute Newsletter announced that Extro-5: Shaping Things to Come "will take place from June 15th to 17th at the San Jose Hilton and Towers in San Jose, California." It is intended to be a "solution-oriented conference" with extensive participation aiming "to come to useful, actionable conclusions." Themes are:

• Machine Intelligence-Threat or Opportunity?
• Thriving in the Information Economy
• Superlongevity and Augmentation: Overcoming Resistance
• Mastering the Information Explosion

"TransVision 2001 will take place one week after Extro-5, from June 22nd to 24th, 2001 in Berlin, Germany."

from the prepare-for-nanoquiz dept.
Senior Associate GinaMiller brings to our attention a Yahoo press release on UC Berkeley courses open to the public, including "May 5: Nanotechnology: Basic Concepts and Potential Applications — Saturday, May 5, 1-5 pm, 155 Dwinelle Hall, UC campus, Berkeley. Fee: $20. Nanotechnology expert Dr. Ralph Merkle leads a stimulating discussion — in terms the lay public can understand — of this burgeoning field. Starting with fundamental principles, he moves on to potential applications of this technology in medical, aerospace, computer science, and military arenas." For enrollment information, see http://www.unex.berkeley.edu. Let's hope it's taped for the web.