Category: Nanodot

from the but-how-much-does-it-cost? dept.
We also need a review of this: Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) from Chemical Computing Group: "a software system designed for molecular computing, integrates visualization, model building, simulation, and analysis of molecular structures." Available for Red Hat Linux 6.0. The same license also includes various Windows and other UNIX versions. "MOE comes with source code for customization…MOE is platform independent." And: "The Molecule Builder has been enhanced to include all the Edit menu commands for modifying atom properties and geometries (bond lengths, angles and torsions). Chirality and E/Z inversion has been added as well as the ability to name atoms A0, A1, etc. for combinatorial chemistry applications. Atoms can be bonded, unbonded and deleted from the Builder panel." Sounds expensive; if it's worth the time maybe Foresight can arrange a group discount. Any interest?

from the where-angels-fear-to-tread dept.
We need a review of the experimental HyperCube Compute Server. It is a free web-based service offering computational chemistry: "You go to the compute page to draw your molecule and select the type of calculation you want to perform. At this stage we are offering two type of calculations. The first shows the molecular orbitals calculated using the 3D structure created by HyperChem's modelbuilder. The second shows the optimized structure and infra-red spectra of your drawn molecule. Both of these calculations are performed using the PM3 semi-empirical method." Caveat: it is highly Microsoft-oriented, and not open source.

from the required-reading dept.
UIUC mechanical engineering student Jon Horek has produced an excellent study for the IEEE titled A Critical Analysis of National Nanotechnology Research Funding (in pdf). It accurately describes, in some detail, the "rift" between researchers who advocate molecular manufacturing (MM) and those who do not. Horek concludes that the U.S. gov't working group on nanotechnology should increase dialogue with the MM research community. An astute analysis, long overdue.

from the what's-the-nano-herd-reading-these-days dept.
Jonathan Desp of Atoma writes: There is a nice page on Nanotechnology at Google." The Google directory is based on the Open Directory combined with Google technology and shows page popularity among Google users. Subcategories under Nanotech include Articles, Books, Businesses, Conferences, Funding, and Social & Political Implications.

from the can-there-be-a-truce-between-humans-and-computers? dept.
Senior Associate DickKarpinski writes "Jef Raskin's new book, The Humane Interface, is just out and everybody who cares to understand why computers are so hard to use, and how to fix them, should read it." Why should we care? The day is coming fast when the line blurs between computers and the human brain. If you'd prefer not to get that intimate with today's software, we need to get this straightened out soon. This book was found very useful by Foresight chairman Eric Drexler, and quite a few others who got it as a freebie at the Gathering, courtesy of Dick (thanks, Dick!).

from the find-all-things-nano dept.
Pat Delany writes "Nanospot.org is a new web search engine just for nanotechnology. We target the contents of over 240 nanotech websites, including academic papers, opinion pieces, research/industrial equipment spec sheets, experiment results, researchers' cv's, general nano overviews, etc., to provide easy access to the best nanotechnology information on the web." ChrisPeterson writes "When you're looking for info on molecular nanotechnology, you may want to use this new nanotech-only search engine. Why? The big engines are weeks or months out of date. This one searches lots of nanotech websites and does it more often than the big engines can. It worked well when I tested it on a common nanotech search term."