Donate
Donate

Gaming the Future: The Book!

Category: Nanodot

Sharp Gamma Hologram; Delicate Atom Measurement

from the precision-vision dept.
ChrisPhoenix notes these two items on work that probes the fine structure of materials and atoms:
"According to a Physics News Update article, A Sharp Gamma-Ray Hologram, physicists in Krakow have made a gamma ray hologram of an iron crystal resulting in 3D images of the local crystal structure with half-angstrom spatial resolution. They've solved the "twin image" problem and hope to be mapping local magnetic environment soon. The article describes the difference between gamma ray holography and X-ray holography.

"Another physnews article, The Most Spherical Thing, describes a search for electric dipoles in atoms. The interesting thing is the precision of the measurement. They looked for a change in precession, and couldn't find it at a level of 0.4 nano-Hz. This corresponds to an energy shift of less than 2.6 x 10-43 Joule, the smallest that has ever been measured. After nanotech comes femtotech…"

NASA seeks public comment on new institutes

from the short-notice dept.
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to implement a number of University-based research centers, to be known as Research, Engineering, and Technology Institutes, or RETIs, and is seeking public comment on the implementation of this new program. Nanotechnology is prominently featured among the targeted technologies.

The goal of this plan is to strengthen NASA's ties to the academic community through long-term sustained investment in areas of innovative and long-range technology critical to NASA's future. At the same time the RETIs will enhance and broaden the capabilities of the nation's universities to meet the needs of NASA's science and technology programs. The role of the RETIs is intended to be research and exploitation of innovative, cutting-edge, emerging opportunities for technology that can have a revolutionary impact on the missions that NASA pursues in the future, while expanding the nation's talent base for research and development.

Organizations that have an interest in this activity are requested to provide information that addresses creative concepts in how to implement the RETIs, on collaborations with the NASA Centers, on mechanisms for partnering with non-university/non-NASA performers, and on RETI management.

Public Comment Due Date: April 21, 2001

DNA used to guide self-assembly of nanostructures

from the inspired-by-nature dept.
Saturngraphix spotted this press release about Purdue chemist Hicham Fenniriís work using DNA to guide the self-assembly of nanoscale structures: "Inspired by nature's own building blocks, Purdue University researchers are using the same principle that makes DNA strands link together to create tiny structures that may someday be used to manufacture molecular wires and other components for use in nanometer-sized electronic devices."

According to the release, the new technique will allow scientists to use self-assembly techniques to develop nanoscale structures with specific dimensions and chemical properties, and may help pave the way for designing new materials, electronic devices and drug delivery systems. Fenniriís research will be detailed in the 25 April 2001 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Should human cloning be legal?

from the limits-of-government dept.
An article in the National Review Online ("Should Cloning Be Legal? It's not a federal question," 16 April 2001) considers the legal issues surrounding the possibility of human cloning. The article is by Dave Kopel, research director for the Independence Institute, and Glenn Reynolds, professor of law at the University of Tennessee and a member of the Foresight board of directors.

The issue of cloning has become increasingly visible because, as the authors note, "[President] Bush is ready to sign legislation that bans research into human cloning as soon as Congress sends it to him." But they also point out: "The federal government, as the president has reminded us, is a government of limited powers, powers that are enumerated in the Constitution. And nothing in the Constitution grants the federal government the power to ban research into cloning, or to suppress other types of science." The issue of federal authority to regulate cloning has obvious implications for regulation of nanotechnology as well.

Summary of DNA-based Nanomachines

from the biomimicry dept.
SteveLenhert at About.com writes of an short article posted there that provides a brief overview of DNA-based nanomechanics. He writes writes "This article summarizes and references recent research on DNA based nanomechanics, and discusses implications in vivo."

Have Russians created AI?

from the extraordinary-claims-require-extraordinary-proof dept.
Charles Vollum writes "In an article on ananova.com, Russian scientist Vitaly Valtsev claims to have developed the first artificial brain with the same intellectual potential as a human, using pioneering findings in neurophysiology and neuromorphology to produce a truly thinking machine."

Nanotube "roll-ups" in non-carbon flavors

from the alternatives dept.
A simple method of producing non-carbon nanotubes has been developed by O.G. Schmidt and K. Eberl, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, Germany. The new technique makes it possible to prepare tubes from very different substances, such as silicon, as well as to vary their dimensions and to deposit the nano objects very exactly. Their method employs a strained semiconductor sheet that springs free of a crystalline substrate that holds it flat; the sheet then curls up into a nanotube.

According to the researchers, "Deposition techniques are capable of combining materials of almost unlimited diversity, including semiconductors, insulators, metals, polymers, etc. This richness will create new nano-objects of unknown diversity, which will find their fortune in the wide and interdisciplinary fields of micro- and nano-electromechanical systems."

Details of the work are reported in Nature, v410:168 (8 March 2001).

Bioscientists back an "open source" library

from the Straight-to-the-source dept.
Senior Associate John Gilmore calls our attention to an item on the movement to create an open public library of scientific papers that appeared on the New Scientist website.

A model archive, called "PubMed Central", was set up by Harold Varmus when he was director of the US National Institutes of Health. Major journals which already deposit their papers there include the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and the British Medical Journal. Supporters of the idea urge other scientists to sign a petition calling for the library, and to boycott journals unwilling to participate in the scheme.

As of the end of March, more than 12,000 scientists from 120 countries have signed an open letter in support of the Public Library of Science initiative. As a result of this initiative, several scientific publishers have already decided to adopt the policy advocated in the open letter, and almost every publisher and scientific society is discussing it. You can find out more, and add your signature to the petition, at http://www.publiclibraryofscience.org.

HP Labs receives molectronics patent

from the thanks-for-the-(molecular)-memory dept.
An article in the May 2001 issue of Technology Review Magazine details a patent for a molecular electronics device granted to the well-known team from HP Laboratories: Philip Kuekes, R. Stanley Williams and UCLA chemist James Heath ("Molecular Memory," by D. Rotman). According to the article, the HP research group received an initial patent on a molecular memory device in October 2000; and "a series of related patents covering everything from molecular logic to how to chemically assemble these devices is pending." You can view the patent (U.S. Patent 6,128,214) online.

Coverage of the work by the HP Labs research team has appeared in Foresight Update 42.

A Study on Artificial Markets (Idea Futures)

from the Buying-into-an-idea dept.
Senior Associate John Smart brings our attention to a study on the predictive power of artificial markets ("The Real Power of Artificial Markets: A research study on the efficiency and forecast accuracy of market games on the Web") by a team of researchers at the NEC Research Institute. According to one of the studyís authors, the prices of securities can be thought of as the market's assessment of the probabilities of the corresponding events, and players can be as accurate in their predictions as stock-market investors. He also suggest that trend watchers could study artificial markets to spot evidence of future trends, or even create new gaming markets to collect information on particular areas of interest.

The full NEC study and a short version that appeared in the 9 February 2001 issue of Science are both available online and as Adobe Acrobat PDF files at http://artificialmarkets.com

Facebook Twitter Youtube Linkedin Podcast Spotify
0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyReturn to Shop
    Continue Shopping

      Search Foresight Institute