If the above picture reminds you of something like it some 27 years ago when physicists announced a nanostructure built atom-by-atom, then it is important to recognize there are multiple crucial differences between the above 2014 image of a Swiss cross formed from 20 precisely placed bromine atoms and the 1990 image of the IBM… Continue reading Building atom-by-atom on insulator at room temperature
In writing for this blog, I am accustomed to rapid changes from one technological area to another, such as from DNA origami to de novo protein design to scanning probe microscopy to molecular machinery based on mechanically interlocked molecular architectures. The DNA and protein work overlaps with biotechnology, and we have always seen all these… Continue reading Blockchains, Cryptoeconomics, and Emerging Technology Risks
Foresight Institute Co-Founder and Projects Director Christine Peterson (full biography) was interviewed recently by 80000 Hours, “an independent nonprofit funded by individual donors” and founded “because we couldn’t find any sources of advice on how to do good with our own working lives. Since 2011, we’ve been on a mission to figure out how best… Continue reading Cyber, Nano, and AGI Risks: Computer Security and Effective Altruism
We have pointed to examples of how atomically precise nanotechnology might open the road to developing quantum computers (Atomically precise location of dopants a step toward quantum computers, August 4th, 2016; Architecture for atomically precise quantum computer in silicon, November 9th, 2015; A nanotechnology route to quantum computers through hybrid rotaxanes, March 27th, 2009). The… Continue reading Prototype quantum computer gives small molecule quantum simulation
Since winning the 2007 Foresight Institute Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology, Theory category, Professor David Leigh FRS FRSE FRSC MAE, and since 2012 at the University of Manchester, has continued to achieve major milestones on the road to complex systems of molecular machinery. Contributions we have recently cited here: First direct measurement of force generated by… Continue reading Molecular robot builds four types of molecules
Our previous post announced a race around a 100 nm course of six NanoCars, each a unique concept created from only several dozen atoms and powered by electrical pulses. The race was run a few weeks later and two winners declared, due to two different tracks being used. From Swiss news “Swiss team wins shortest… Continue reading USA-Austrian and Swiss Nanocars finish first in first Nanocar race
Six NanoCars, each a unique concept created from only several dozen atoms by one of six teams representing six nations, and powered by electrical pulses, will compete to complete a 100 nm course within 38 hours.
A molecule with two unpaired electrons too unstable to be made by chemical synthesis was fabricated using a scanning probe microscope to remove two hydrogen atoms from a single molecule adsorbed to a copper surface at ultra low temperature and ultra high vacuum.
A review from the group leading recent rapid progress in de novo protein design describes the successes, identifies the remaining challenges, and heralds the advance “from the Stone Age to the Iron Age” in protein design.
Ten designs spanning three types of icosahedral architectures produce atomically precise multi-megadalton protein cages to deliver biological cargo or serve as scaffolds for organizing various molecular functions.
