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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Category: Nanodot

UK Defense ministry reviews nanotechnology

from the World-Watch dept.
RobertBradbury writes "The British Minstry of Defence (MOD) has released this recent report NANOTECHNOLOGY: Its Impact on Defence and the MOD (in Adobe Acrobat PDF format).

It's interesting for what they get wrong. They seem to be including quantum cryptography, AI, MEMS and biotechnology as part of "nanotechnology" while entirely missing the possibility of nanobots. Guess that's what happens when you don't include a microbiologist on the "expert" panel. It mentions that European funding is ~100 million pounds a year, but like the U.S. funding, that probably includes a lot of nanoscience and larger-than-nanoscale research."

Investors assess nanotechnology

from the blind-men-and-an-elephant dept.
A recent article from United Press International ("Investors weigh merits of nanotech", 11 May 2001) reveals that investors are still uncertain about nanotechnology, largely because it is an ill-defined new field. According to the article, investment experts say gauging the level of private investment in nanotechnologies is nearly impossible because no industry statistics are available and because of disagreements over what nanotechnology means.

The article quotes Foresight Senior Associate Steven Vetter, CEO of Molecular Manufacturing Enterprises Inc., a seed capital firm in St. Paul Minnesota: "It's hard to gauge the levels of investment because there is so much confusion over what the term includes . . . What's happened is that the term has become stylish and has been broadened to apply to many more things."

"Nanoscience is a more appropriate term at this stage than nanotechnology," said Josh Wolfe of Lux Capital, an investment firm in New York City.

And even though IMM Research Fellow and Foresight founder Eric Drexler has played a pivotal role in the development of the field, we have to point out that the articleís characterization of Eric as "the world's leading authority on nanoscience" is a bit of an exaggeration!

NIST conference sessions will examine future of technology

from the setting-standards? dept.
The Advanced Technology Program of the U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) is sponsoring a special program on "Technology at the Crossroads: Frontiers of the Future" at its 2001 national meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, 3-5 June 2001. Two session of high interest include:
– "Replication of Nanodevices", presented by Ralph Merkle of Zyvex and J. Storrs Hall from the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing. This session will cover molecular replicating systems, including replications of more complex structures on the nanometer scale and exponential assembly into larger devices at the micron scale.
– "The Challenge of Molecular Electronics: Focusing Nanotechnology on the Future Computer", presented by Christopher B. Murray, Manager, Nanoscale Materials and Devices, IBM, T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY; and Dr. Paul Weiss, Professor of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University. This Frontier session will explore recent notable achievements that show the promise of molecular scale electronics. Anticipating a stream of new advances, such as molecular wires, molecular switches and molecular sensors, particular attention will be placed on the enabling, spillover possibilities for this rapidly moving field.

Other sessions will cover virtual reality in medicine, regenerative medicine (tissue regeneration & stem cell research), information technology, and a discussion by a panel of venture capitalists.
There will also be a keynote address on "Ten Ideas that Have Already Decided the Future", by Foresight Advisor Peter Schwartz, Cofounder and Chairman, Global Business Network, and author, The Long Boom: The Coming Age of Prosperity.

New light-based computer runs at quantum speeds

from the quantum-computing dept.
A research team at the University of Rochester in New York state has created an optical information processing device that provides some of the advantages of quantum computing. The device mimics quantum interference, an important property that makes quantum computers exponentially faster at tasks such as breaking encryption codes or searching huge databases. Instead of interference, conventional computers use electrons to perform tasks sequentially. Quantum interference methods allow massive parallelism, vastly increasing the speed of the process. The new device proves that using light interference is just as effective as quantum interference in retrieving items from a database. The optical device does not, however, employ quantum entanglement, a property which may allow unique computing capabilities, but which so far has not been harnessed on a large scale.

Extro-5 Conference Coming in June

from the thinking-big dept.
The Extropy Institute will be hosting the EXTRO-5 Conference: "Shaping Things to Come", in San Jose, California, June 15-17, 2001. According to a press release, the Extro-5 international conference will assemble "big thinkers from numerous fields to provoke our culture to think more carefully about the more plausible perils of progress and to shape the future for the better."

Big thinkers at Extro-5: "Shaping Things to Come" include inventor, entrepreneur, and writer Ray Kurzweil, leading information economist Hal Varian, science correspondent Ronald Bailey, leading information economy strategist Steve Flinn, cyberspace economist David Friedman, best-selling author Greg Bear, extropic philosopher Max More, evolutionary biologist Michael Rose, artist and cultural catalyst Natasha Vita-More, co-architect of the pre-Web Xanadu hypertext system Mark Miller, and other leading thinkers from computing, artificial intelligence, law, "hard" science fiction, Internet technologies, neuroscience, and business.

Don't miss out on this singular chance to listen to and network with those who are shaping the future. Stimulate your brain, expand your vision of the future, make contacts for your interests and businesses. Attendance is limited, so register now to secure your place.

For more information, visit the Extropy Institute conference Web site, email [email protected] or call conference Chair Max More at 310-823-3594.

Read more for the complete press release.

Paper Analyzes Human Extinction Scenarios

from the broad-scale-thinking dept.
Nick Bostrom writes "This is a beefed-up version of the presenation I gave in a SIG meeting at the recent Foresight gathering. Comments and suggestions would be welcome. Maybe it can develop into a FI white paper?

The aim is to try to get a better view of the threat picture of what I call "existential risks" – ways in which humankind could go extinct or have its potential permanently destroyed. The paper provides a classification of these risks and argues that they have a cluster of features that make ordinary risk management unworkable. It also argues that there is a substantial probability that we will fall victim to one of these risks. The point, of course, is not to welter in gloom and doom, but to understand where the pitfalls are so we can create better strategies for avoiding falling into them. The paper discusses several implications for policy and ethics, and the potential for destructive uses of nanotechnology is given particular attention.

The text is available in two formats: on the web and as an MS Word document. (Footnotes and formatting are nicer in the M$-version.)"

Spielberg readies AI, the movie.

Mark Gubrud writes "Steven Spielberg plans to release a new movie about Artificial Intelligence, AI as a summer blockbuster starting in June. The movie's official website gives a few clues to what the plot is about, but if there is an official synopsis, I did not find it. There are pointers to related sites which appear to be put-ups, allegedly the homepages of pro- and anti-AI groups, including an "anti-robot militia" which revels in homemade high-tech weaponry to be used in the destruction of "non-human sentients."

[Editor's note: Spielberg's movie is apparently the result of his taking over the project for a movie about AI which the late Stanley Kubrick (the director of 2001: A space odyssey) had been working on for some years.]

Mark adds "While researching about the AI movie, I came across the very useful website AI Topics from the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. There is a subpage on the movie, plus many links to other high-quality resources on artificial intelligence and related topics."

Read more for additional comments . . .

Nano-materials firm wins business plan competition

from the business-plans dept.
An Anonymous Coward posted this press release:

"Nanocs International Places First in NYU Stern's "Maximum Exposure" Business Plan Competition
New York, NY – April 30, 2001 – Nanocs International placed first out of nine finalist teams in a competitive pitch-off that concluded this year's Maximum Exposure Business Plan Competition, sponsored by the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and the Entrepreneurs' Exchange student club at New York University Stern School of Business."

Read more for the rest of the press release.

Information, the Internet and Nanotechnology

from the distributed-thinking dept.
Serguei Osokine sends notice of a his essay on Internet Evolution and Nanotechnology: "The distributed control approach to infobalance becomes especially important with the introduction of the molecular nanomachines. In order to be prepared to it, the Internet can be used as the infobalance research instrument and as a prototype of the future Nanonet, 'growing' it in an evolutionary way."

Read more for an abstract, or read the full essay.

Societal impacts of nanotech examined in Technology Review

from the public-involvement dept.
An interesting commentary ("Get Ready for Your Nano Future", by Alan Leo, 4 May 2001) on the recent NSET report on the Societal Implications of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology appeared on the Technology Review website. As the articleís subtitle indicates, "We know that nanotech will change the world — it's time to think about how." The article says the report indicates "The most significant implications may be unforeseen, and unforeseeable."

The key lesson, according to Mihail Roco, the National Science Foundation's senior advisor for nanotechnology, "is to involve the public early in the process — before nanotech's effects are felt."
"We look to the people who are raising [concerns] to address the issues sooner," Roco says. "History shows that all breakthroughs in science and technology have brought societal changes and, sometimes, societal fears. But nobody should think about stopping research and development in this field [just] because there could be some risks."

Additional comments in reaction to the NSET Societal Implications report appeared here on nanodot on 27 April and 30 April.

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