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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Category: Nanodot

Seeking assistance in motivating students

from the help-wanted dept.
DanKindsvater writes "I really ought to jettison a few of my projects since I'm trying to finish my master's in AI this summer, but they're all too important to me. I'd appreciate help from anyone attempting something similar, especially if you have time to chat at the Gathering this month:
1. Collect job descriptions of nanotech jobs to show to smart local (mainly UNC-G and NCA&T) graduate students, to increase local interest in nano-relevant courses;
2. Raise, or identify, scholarship money for any local students who want to put some effort into qualifying for one of the spiffy new IMM prizes;
3. Provide syllabi or other course materials for local professors who are interested in offering nano-relevant courses."

Nanotechnology on "Springboard" national public TV

from the public-education dept.
The new national (U.S.) PBS-TV show Springboard is doing a show on nanotechnology including guests Ralph Merkle, Principal Fellow, Zyvex (and Foresight Advisor); Philip Clayton, Principal Investigator, Center for Theology and Natural Sciences; Phil Kuekes, Fellow, HP Labs (and Feynman Prizewinner); Joe Haldeman, Author; and myself (Christine Peterson, President, Foresight Institute). Read More for broadcast info.

Formerly-secret trade negotiations opening up

from the openness-in-government dept.
In a stunning move reported by AP wireservice, negotiators of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas will make the text public prior to finalization: "A draft text of the all-Americas free trade agreement would be made public, he said. In the past, negotiations went on behind closed doors." A victory for the growing openness movement, probably stimulated by the failure of a previous international treaty draft which was deliberately leaked by the opposition.

Evolutionary protein design

from the unnatural-selection dept.
vik points out an item about researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston who have been developing proteins with specific binding affinity by pseudo-evolutionary processes, which appeared on Natureís Science Update site. Researchers Anthony Keefe and Jack Szostak have developed a method to indetify proteins to do a predetermined job from a vast number of random genes. The article makes an explicit connection to the potential of protein design as a pathway toward nanotechnology:
"It's 20 years since Eric Drexler, one of the prophets of nanotechnology, suggested that proteins could be engineered, and that molecular machines could be used in computing or medicine. But protein design has proved damnably difficult, because of our inability to predict how a linear sequence of amino acids will fold up into a three-dimensional protein. An evolutionary approach might sidestep this problem."

Drexler's 1981 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, which first proposed the protein engineering pathway, is cited.

vik writes: "An evolutionary approach to protein design may be more fruitful than protein-folding predictions in producing either protein-based machinery or using custom proteins as templates for the catalysis of nanoscale components."

UN University updates futures scenarios

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.

Alternate pathways to assemblers?

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.

Detailed Structure Of The Ribosome Described

from the natural-molecular-manufacturing dept.
William Morgan writes "Just a reminder that there is more than one path…
A press release on EurekAlert describes an article in Science about researchers at UC Santa Cruz who used x-ray crystallography to detail the structure of ribosomes."

In a paper published in the 30 March 2001 issue of Science, the researchers describe the structure of a bacterial ribosome in sufficient detail to begin to understand how it works. "This allows us to see what all the key parts are and how they interact," said Harry Noller, head of the group that obtained the new images. "The ribosome is a molecular machine, and it must have moving parts to accomplish its function. We are now in a position to understand the structural rearrangements of the ribosome during protein synthesis," Noller said. The abstract of the paper is freely available online.

Previous research into the fine structure of ribosomes was covered here in July and August of 2000.

Quantum-Dot Nano-Lasers

from the can-they-use-that-name? dept.
TanMauWu writes "An article in the April 2001 issue of Technology Review reports the creation of "Nanodot Lasers". These lasers can potentially output coherent light in a very wide range of frequencies, as opposed to the limited frequencies modern lasers can provide."

The lasers are semiconductor particle quantum dots — just a few nanometers across — and quantum effects tune the color of the glow to the size of the particle. The work was conducted by MIT chemist Moungi Bawendi and Victor Klimov, a laser expert at Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico.

Genetic Mutant or high tech bio-art?

from the Bunny-bemusement dept.
Is a glowing bunny an aesthetic statement? rinkjustice calls our attention to this item, which raises some interesting questions about what happens when genetic manipulation moves beyond basic research and the treatment of genetic diseases into . . . other arenas:
"Chicago-based conceptual artist Eduardo Kac has created a stir when he was prevented from unveiling his latest high tech art named Alba, at an exhibition of digital art in Paris. Alba is a transgenic bunny that glows bright green in blue light. It was the result of splicing the green fluorescent protein from the Aequorea victoria jellyfish into the genes of a rabbit. Some called the denial of his exhibit censorship, while others — horrified at this genetic manipulation — accuse Kac of playing God.
Is Alba legitimate bio-art? Is it an indication of how house pets will be in the future? Kac is already in the process of combining said jellyfish protein with Mexican hairless dogs for a glow unobscured by fur."

RPI Starts Nanotechnology Research Center

willgorman submitted this item on the creation of the Center for Nanotechnology Research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York. According to the press release, research areas of the Center will include advanced materials and coatings, biosciences and biotechnology, nanoelectronics, microelectronics, and nanosystems. In addition, a new research effort on potential socioeconomic impacts will be initiated to understand the impact of nanotechnology on industry and society.

In a related item, RPI and Zyvex Corporation recently formed a two-year collaboration designed to develop new microsystems capabilities. Under that agreement, Zyvex and RPI will explore MEMS assembly and packaging technologies through the cooperation of Zyvex's and RPI's research and development facilities.

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