from the what-DC-is-reading dept.
The Spring 2001 Wilson Quarterly — overall, an excellent publication worth reading regularly — includes a short survey of recent articles on nanotechnology mentioning Foresight, Bill Joy, Gilder's objections to Joy, Smalley's objections to nanomachines ("various practical reasons"), and Mirkin's work at Northwestern. It closes: "The [US] federal government is spending on nanoscience this year some $423 million — hardly a nanosum."
from the sigh dept.
Both nanofluidicist and Sander Olson call our attention to comments by Richard Smalley of Rice University in the recently released NSET report on the societal implications of nanotechnoogy. In the report, while making remarks in support of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative, Smalley makes reference to the scare that has been raised over the possibility for autonomous, self-replicating nanorobots. According to Smalley, nanobots are "an impossible, childish fantasy," a "fuzzy-minded nightmare dream."
A response to similar comments attributed to Smalley last November appeared in Foresight Update #43.
Read more for an excerpt of Smalley's comment from the report.
from the community-relations dept.
alison writes "I propose that IMM/Foresight have a booth at the exhibit or trade show of a major scientific or engineering meeting. The purpose of such a booth would be to recruit new members from the technical community, and in particular, to recruit folks who are players in nanotechnology research."
Read more for the details of alison's proposal.
from the cost/benefit-analysis dept.
Michael Mestre suggests that members of the Foresight community may want to weigh in with their opinions on this short discussion thread on NanotechNews.com. Michael writes: "Some discussion about this would be welcome : ) — in short, a former Senior Associate from Foresight is being critical of the commercial (and costly) aspect of the Senior Associate gatherings."
from the imagineering dept.
Craig Hubley writes "The American Committee for the United Nations University, which I worked with for some years, recently updated its Global Scenarios which have been compiled since 1997 and include both "normative" and "exploratory" styles, in time ranges to 2025, 2500, and 3000. Of most interest are issues with respect to temporal mechanics and quantum entanglement, inter-species ethics, and the fact that almost all scenarios assume that nanotech will be used by military and "terrorist" organizations at some point. Despite that, a positivist pro-technology tone prevails throughout."
Read more for Craigís take on some of the scenarios.
from the Many-roads dept.
SteveLenhert at About.com writes of an item posted there that looks at an alternate approach to developing an assembler:"This essay ("Are you a Self-Assembler?") discusses an approach towards molecular nanotechnology that does not require self-replicating assemblers and can be realized using available biotechnology."
There is a related item on the site that addresses some of the same issues.
from the what-world-leaders-heard dept.
In an International Herald Tribune item we learn more about what happened at WEF: "Mr. Joy discussed his thesis at a remarkable seminar during the recent World Economic Forum in Davos. He urged scientists to renounce research that could lead to what he considers 'a clear danger of extinction'…At least, he said, there ought to be a democratic opportunity for ordinary people to vote on whether they want this kind of research to continue. That is obviously impractical. We voters don't know enough about the subjects, and at the rate things are changing we will never have a chance to learn in time to make a sensible decision." CP: Technology is also developed in countries where the people don't get to vote. Read More for additional excerpts.
from the Jurvetson-Wolfe-who's-next dept.
Also from TNT, a pointer to Steve Lenhert's About.com interview of Josh Wolfe, co-founder of Lux Capital. Excerpts: "I don't really think we have pure-play nanotechnology [public] stocks yet… In fact, don't be surprised if some of the more exciting developments and product introductions come from the incumbent chemical manufacturers: Dow, BASF, DuPont…A lot of the really exciting progress that we will see in the next few years will be happening at private startups that seek to emulate Zyvex's high-reaching goals…Nano companies have to be sure to balance the blue-sky research with real demand."
from the read-the-literature dept.
PatrickUnderwood brings to our attention a Reason writeup of the recent AAAS nanotech seminar: "While appreciative of Drexler's pivotal role in nanotech, Whitesides was at pains to disagree with many of his ideas. 'I personally don't think that these kinds of things are going to work,' said Whitesides. 'We already have biological motors'…Whitesides dismissed Drexler's notion of nanotech assemblers…How would one power an assembler, asked Whitesides. How would one get it the information it needs to know what to do? And would it be really be strong enough to break atomic bonds?" CP: How long has Nanosystems been out — eight years, isn't it?…sigh.
from the not-Microsoft-Office dept.
Senior Associate and well-known VC Steve Jurvetson has a CNET think-piece called "The new convergence: Infotech, biotech and nanotech". The closing: "The best way to create a large and complex system is to grow it. It's not a Microsoft Office install. It's not a brain by design. We are entering a period of a profound learning and expansion of our capabilities in both molecular engineering and information processing. By expanding these capabilities, we further expand our ability to learn. It is a period of exponential growth in the learning-doing cycle in which the power of biology, IT and nanotech compounds the advances in each formerly discrete domain. Despite a human tendency to presume a regression to linearity, the pace of progress will continue to accelerate." In an email, Steve said "Special Thanks to [Senior Associate] Robert Bradbury, who is brilliant on these topics, and helped me a lot." Join Steve at the April 20-22 Gathering.
