Category: Nanodot

from the bucks-for-bricks-and-mortar dept.
waynerad writes "Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories will jointly receive $75.8 million from the DOE for the design and construction of buildings to house the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT). The article says they will pursue the possibility for 'atoms-up engineering' in the long term, but the short-term goals are 'new ways to develop sensors, satellites, and security measures to support our nuclear deterrent'. Also have a look at the fact sheet."

from the imaging-atoms dept.
RobVirkus writes "A new I.B.M electron microscope has a resolving power 'less than the radius of a single hydrogen atom'. The beam is 'only three-billionth of an inch wide' which converted is about 0.0762 NM. The image is also three dimensional imaging up to 10 NM depth. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/08/technology/08BLU E.html"

from the spin-dots dept.
waynerad writes "Researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison claim to have created the world's first successful simulation of a quantum-computer architecture that uses existing silicon fabrication techniques. By harnessing both vertical and horizontal tunneling through dual top and bottom gates, the architecture lays out interacting, 50-nanometer-square, single-electron quantum dots across a chip. The group of researchers has concluded that existing silicon fabrication equipment can be used to create quantum computers, albeit at only megahertz speeds today due to the stringent requirements of its pulse generators."

from the learning-from-biology dept.
2012Rocky writes "I recently completed an interview with George Bachand at Sandia regarding his work with molecular motors."

George Bachand: "We are interested in mimicking Nature's ability to actively assemble, reconfigure, and disassemble nanoscale materials and structures. As an example, we are interested in mimicking the mechanism by which organisms such as chameleons change color. This involves rearrangement of pigmented nanoparticles by linear translation using biological motors."

from the courageously-extended-necks dept.
pedro writes "I caught at /. a reference to a cnet article summarizing the report by the national science foundation and the department of commerce entitled 'Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance: Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, and Cognitive Science'. It's an interesting read, and I hope it prepares me to the report itself (405 pages)."

from the ways-to-pick-an-atom dept.
Quantum net for atom angling, an article by Philip Ball online at nature science update (July 30, 2002) describes recently published calculations indicating that "Physicists should be able to land exact numbers of atoms from a quantum cloud." A quantum dot dipped into a Bose-Einstein Condensate for a specified time interval should withdraw one atom from the BEC; for a longer period two atoms, etc.

from the smaller-cooler-sooner? dept.
DARPA researcher pursues 'nanomemory' (a UPI Science News article by Scott R. Burnell, published 8/4/2002) reports that DARPA program manager Kwan Kwok "plans to have a working nanoscale computer memory by 2004. If so, one square centimeter's worth of the device Kwok envisions could hold more than 10 gigabytes of data, enough for several full-length movies." The report provides no details on the arrays of molecular wires that are planned. Although only a factor of 30 or so beyond the storage density of current state-of-the-art hard drives, 'nanomemory' would also be superior to current dynamic random access memory (DRAM) in terms of much lower heat production and power use.

from the what's-in-a-name dept.
PatGratton writes with a "fairly radical suggestion" to distinguish molecular manufacturing/molecular nanotechnology, as proposed by Eric Drexler in Engines of Creation and Nanosystems, from other nanoscale science and technologies currently covered by the term nanotechnology. Following is his abstract of his argument. "The full argument is available on my web site: Nanotech vs. Nanotech (Part 1) is intended for a general audience, while Nanotech vs. Nanotech (Part 2) is intended for Feynman/Drexler nanotech advocates. Each document is about two pages."

from the big-budget-silver-screen-tiny-tech dept.
Gina Miller writes "Chud.com a portal for movies in development has posted on the front page, news that FOX is intending to film the not yet released book _Prey_ by Michael Crichton. The author has received 5 million dollars for the movie rights of his novel. Quote; 'The details are more covert than Site B operations, but the story apparently involves nanotechnology, and is a political thriller that blends themes from the writer's Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park.' The book will be released in November."

from the artificial-assemblies dept.
Mr_Farlops writes "Business Week highlights the work of chemist George Whitesides and his startup, Surface Logix which plans to build cell-based sensors to help quickly screen new drugs and to build polyvalent drugs that, unlike most conventional drugs, bind to multiple sites on specfic proteins involved in disease. Whitesides hopes to fuse biotech and chemistry to develop novel methods of self-assembly as well."