LawrenceTrutter writes "The Space.com story, Microscopic Nanotubes Could Make Ships Lightweight, Superstrong , discusses the predictions made by NASA's Nanotube team. Several applications of the nanotubes mentioned in the article include composite, nanoelectronics, biomedical applications, energy storage, and thermal materials.
Dr. Richard Smalley of Rice University is also quoted in this article. There is also a brief report on Richard Smalley's team progress."
from the Molectronics dept.
The cover and a pair of feature articles in the February 2002 issue of Materials Today, an international magazine devoted to the latest research and policy news for materials researchers in academia, industry and government, highlight "Molecular electronics: the future of computing". The two feature articles are available on the MT website, as Adobe Acrobat PDF files. (Note: the PDF files have been print-disabled, so you can only view the articles online.)
from the (world-authority-on-nanotech?) dept.
A rather breathless article in the Australian Daily Telegraph ("AIDS cure closer: expert", 4 February 2002) describes a visit to Australia by Professor Donald Tomalia, whom the article describes as "the world authority on nanotechnology", to trumpet work by Dendritic Nanotechnologies Ltd, the joint-venture of Melbourne-based pharmaceutical company Starpharma and Brisbane-based diagnostic firm Panbio. Tomalia is a leading researcher in the field of starburst dendrimers, a type of complex, tree-like spherical branching polymer molecules, at Central Michigan University in the United States. Dendritic Nanotech was formed in August 2001 to develop products using "dendrimer nanotechnology"
Australia would pioneer the application to humans of the synthetic molecular structures to prevent and cure diseases such as STDs, malaria and Hepatitis B, Prof Tomalia told reporters in Sydney. According to the article, dendrimers were being touted by Dendritic Nanotechnologies as having implications for anything from preventing tumour growth to curing AIDS to detecting biological warfare.
Dr John Raff, CEO of Starpharma, said the Australian federal government had committed A$6 million to the company's research. He said the Australian army was embracing nanotechnology, following in the footsteps of the U.S., which was equipping its army with detection devices against germ warfare. "The opportunities of broadscale protections against a range of respiratory viruses is enormous," he said. "The US army has made a very serious commitment to the nano area. The army intends to give every foot soldier out there devices to detect biological threats. That is now a reality. Australia is just now coming into this very exciting area," he said.
from the Nano-hype,-nano-whining dept.
An article on the Small Times website ("Nanotech headed for historyís dustbin unless it cuts the hype, panelists warn", by Matt Kellye, 5 February 2002) recaps comments made during an investment forum at Harvard Business School by a four-member panel who make the dubious assertion that "the fledgling sector needs to start creating real devices to solve existing problems . . . Otherwise, nanotech could follow artificial intelligence or other technology fads that once flashed into the public mind, only to end up as niche ideas that never went mainstream." The article also described what seems to be a lot of impatient hand-wringing over a lack of perceived applications and short-term returns for nanotechnology investment.
from the you-wish dept.
The version of this item posted on 4 February 2002 incorrectly listed the amounts requested by federal agency in billions, rather than millions, of U.S. dollars. Unfortunately, the correct amounts are only millions. Below is the corrected version — Ed.
As part of the US$2.13 trillion budget proposed for the U.S. federal government for fiscal year 2003, the Bush Administration has requested a total of $679 million for the multi-agency National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), a 17 percent increase over FY2002.
The request includes:
According to the Analytical Perspectives: Budget of the United States Government, a document which discusses the Administrationís budge proposals in detail:
The budget provides $679 million for the multi-agency National Nanotechnology Initiative, a 17 percent increase over 2002. The initiative focuses on long-term research on the manipulation of matter down to the atomic and molecular levels, giving us unprecedented building blocks for new classes of devices as small as molecules and machines as small as human cells. This research could lead to continued improvement in electronics for information technology; higher-performance, lower-maintenance materials for defense, transportation, space, and environmental applications; and accelerated biotechnical applications in medicine, healthcare, and agriculture. In 2003, the initiative will focus on fundamental nanoscale research through investments in investigator-led activities, centers and networks of excellence, as well as the supporting infrastructure. Priority areas include: research to enable efficient nanoscale manufacturing; innovative nanotechnology solutions for detection of and protection from biological-chemical-radiological-explosive agents; the education and training of a new generation or workers for future industries; and partnerships and other policies to enhance industrial participation in the nanotechnology revolution. The convergence of nanotechnology with information technology, modern biology and social sciences will reinvigorate discoveries and innovation in many areas of the economy.
The document is available online as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file (about 3.2 Mb). Additional budget documents are available at the White House/Office of Management and Budget (OMB) website.
It is worth noting that the document also mentions the following areas that will be addressed by the U.S. Information Technology Initiative: ëëtrustíí (security, reliability, and privacy); high-assurance software and systems; and micro- and embedded sensor technologies. The document is available online as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file (about 3.2 Mb). Additional budget documents are available at the White House/Office of Management and Budget (OMB) website.
It is worth noting that the document also mentions the following areas that will be addressed by the U.S. Information Technology Initiative: "trust" (security, reliability, and privacy); high-assurance software and systems; and micro- and embedded sensor technologies.
from the long-range-plans dept.
An article in Dallas-Ft. Worth TechBiz ("Local medical device industry could boom with right political support", by Pavan Lall, 21 January 2002) describe innovative companies in the medical device industry in Texas. The article includes a brief nod toward the potential medical applications of nanotechnology:
Nanotechnology will help shrink medical devices, said Christopher Chavez, president and chief executive at Plano-based Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc. ìThe technical issues of nanotech will be resolved downstream, and the improvement of devices will be based on a synthesis of different technologies,î he said. . . . In about 20 years, through a better understanding of the central nervous system, electricity will be accepted as a digital drug, Chavez said. The shrinkage of medical devices will stimulate other technologies as well as make the broad-based use of drugs and chemicals obsolete. ìMachinery and electrode miniaturization will result in very elegant solutions that will be tremendously intelligent,î he said.
Jim Von Ehr, president and chief executive of Richardson-based nanotech company Zyvex Corp., agreed. ìWe have been talking with a number of doctors about things in the medical area and have looked at micro-devices and micro-diagnostics. In the future, there could be a variety of micro-devices that will detect bacteria in a system, chop it into pieces and digest it or even carry oxygen better than a cell in a bloodstream can.î To successfully implement different aspects of medical devices in production, one must understand biological content as well as the relation to software and bioinformatics, Von Ehr said.
It is worth noting that Robert A. Freitas Jr., author or Nanomedicine, the first book-length technical discussion of the potential medical applications of molecular nanotechnology and medical nanorobotics, is a Research Scientist with Zyvex.
An article on the Small Times website ("U.S. patent examiners may not know enough about nanotech", by Doug Brown, 4 February 2002) describes some potential problems faced by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in evaluating what is expected to be a sharp increase in the number of nanotechnology-related patent applications. The article describes problems with both a lack of staff expertise in the relevant fields and the fact that there is no well-defined group or office within the USPTO that can develop the necessary deep expertise or consistency in examination policy. As the article notes, "With examiners ignorant of the scope of nanotechnology, companies would be faced with patents that are either rejected improperly because the examiner mistakenly concluded that the application is not new, or overly broad patents that would give a single company far too much control over a particular swath of a technological field. . . . Now, nanotechnology patents are scattered from technology center to technology center. As a result, patents live in isolation within different art units. The agency doesnít necessarily need to launch a nanotechnology center, . . . but it should put in place a system that funnels nanotechnology patents to specific people tutored in nanotechnology within the different technology centers. The nanotechnology specialists can communicate with one another, which would help ensure that only the right patents are granted for the right reason."
Note: Small Times has begun posting short notices on the latest micro- and nano-tech patents in a special section of their website.
According to an article in Die Welt ("Julius-Springer-Preis für die Erforschung von Nanoröhrchen", 4 February 2002, in German), Cees Dekker, a physicist in the Netherlands, has been awarded this yearís Julius Springer Prize in Applied Physics for his work on the electrical properties of carbon nanotubes and their application in molecular electronic circuits. Recent coverage of this work by Dekker and his colleagues ran here on Nanodot on 13 November, 8 August, and 5 July 2001
The award to Dekker marks the second time in recent years that the Springer Prize in Applied Physics has gone to researchers in molecular electronics. In June 2000, HP Labs researcher Stanley Williams and his UCLA collaborator Jim Heath received the award, one of the most prestigious international awards in the field, for their work in nanotechnology and molecular electronics.
A brief item in The Daily News of Halifax, Canada ("Tiny science no small matter", by Andrea MacDonald, 2 February 2002) describes a lecture by Carlo Montemagno, who studies biological molecular motor systems at UCLA and the California NanoSystems Institute, at Dalhousie University. According to the article, ìThereís a bright future for people who want to look at the business of molecular process,î Montemagno told his audience. Itís difficult to tell whether the writer or Montemagno had tongue in cheek regarding the articleís conclusion: Itís a golden opportunity for nations such as Canada to climb on board, Mantemagno said, as an investment of tens of millions of dollars is all thatís needed to be competitive.
While itís not nanotechnology, an article in the February 2002 issue of the IEEE Spectrum deals with research into robotics that may eventually be useful in designing swarms of nano-scale robots. "Modular Robots", by Mark Yim, Ying Zhang and David Duff from the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) describe the challenges of designing robots capable of operating outdoors, away from civilization, where both mission and geography are unpredictable. "Here," they authors maintain, "robots with the ability to change their shape could be of great value, since they could adapt to constantly varying tasks and environments. Modular reconfigurable robots — experimental systems made by interconnecting multiple, simple, similar units–can perform such shape shifting."
The article deals mainly with their own work on PolyBot, a modular robot being developed at Xerox PARC, but makes brief mention of work at other labs as well.
