news Archives

Gina Miller writes "According to a press release (18 March 2002) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, UI researchers and their collaborators at Harvard and Rice created superconducting wires using carbon nanotubes as scaffolding to support a molybdenum-germanium film as thin as one nanometer. The researchers demonstrated that the superconduction they observe is due to the film, and not to the nanotube, by using fluorinated carbon nanotubes, which, unlike ordinary carbon nanotubes, are not metallic.
For a report that multi-walled carbon nanotubes might themselves be superconducting at high temperatures, see previous Nanodot post Buckytubes may be high-temp superconductors (28 November 2001)."

According to a press release (5 April 2002), Derwent Information, a leading patent information provider, will offer a new service aimed at meeting the growing information needs of the nanotechnology industry. Entitled [sic ñ what exactly is it "entitled" to?] "Nanotechnology – Structures and Devices, the Industry and Technology Patents Profile (ITP)", the new service provides comprehensive information about global patents specific to the nanotechnology field. Each patent is summarized in an abstract, highlighting the novelty, advantages and uses of the new invention. Subscribers to this service will receive regular updates in PDF format, delivered direct to their desktops by email, CD-ROM or FTP. More information is available at the Derwent website.

waynerad writes "According to the EE Times (April 2, 2002), Harvard University researchers transfered quantum information encoded in laser beams into a physical system and subsequently retrieved it."

Gina Miller writes "More on the magnetic properties of nanocrystals in United Press International's Nanotech could power future magnets (30 March 2002), an interview with Laura Henderson Lewis, materials scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory's Department of Applied Science. "Tomorrow's supermagnets could be made of molecule-sized chunks of materials that normally would never interact, possibly creating magnetic fields strong enough to levitate trains at room temperature…" Lewis studies how magnetic materials perform and interact at the micro- and nano-scale, which involve groups of hundreds of atoms or even single molecules. Because magnetic atoms only affect other atoms a nanometer or so distant, engineering the structure of materials on the nanometer scale provides unique opportunities to control the magnetic properties of the materials. The methods mentioned for achieving nanometer scale control of structure are, however, not especially molecular – rapid solidification and milling with steel balls. For other coverage of nanomaterials research at Brookhaven National Laboratory, see Nanodot post of March 22, 2002 Brookhaven Lab launches nanomaterials research effort"

from the budget-battles dept.
An article in EE Times ("Science panel calls for balanced research spending", by George Leopold, 26 March 2002) reports on an increasing level of scrutiny of the Bush administrationís proposed funding priorities for science and technology spending in the U.S. national budget for FY2003, including nanotechnology. According to the article, "The House Science Committee is calling for increased federal funding in fiscal 2003 for technology research and development programs and for a balancing of funding for biomedical and physical science research."

In its annual "views and estimates" of the federal budget request, the Republican-controlled science panel said the Bush administration's research budget request is skewed heavily in support of biomedical research, especially at the National Institutes of Health, which is slated to receive an annual budget increase larger than the entire $5.04 billion budget requested for the National Science Foundation [NSF]. The committee endorsed the Bush administration's "multi-agency R&D" priorities for network and information technology, nanotechnology and anti-terrorism programs. The White House requested a 3 percent increase in funding for networking and information technology research. It also proposed a 17 percent increase in funding next year for nanotechnology research. The committee said it might address nanotechnology research in legislation later this year.

Additional coverage and analysis can be found on the American Institute of Physics (AIP) Science Policy website:

"Science Committee Questions Level, Balance of Federal Research Investment", by Audrey T. Leath, 22 February 2002. According to this report, "At a wide-ranging February 13 hearing on the President's FY 2003 budget request for R&D, House Science Committee members generally supported the budget's emphasis on anti-terrorism, homeland and economic security, and health research, but also indicated that they would try to find additional funds for science programs. As Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) said, the budget priorities are 'reasonable' and 'self-evident' and 'deserve to be funded more generously than are other programs.' But he added that 'the focusing of the proposed R&D budget on two narrowly defined priority areas [defense and health] has left the spending for other agencies anemic.' He later commented that if it were not for defense and national security needs, 'this committee collectively would be madder than hell, to put it bluntly,' at the funding levels for some parts of the science enterprise."
"Research Subcommittee, Witnesses Support Higher NSF Funding", again by Audrey T. Leath , 26 March 2002. According to this report, "[M]embers of the House Science Committee are already working to get funding for the National Science Foundation increased above the President's request of $5.04 billion. At a March 13 hearing of the House Science Subcommittee on Research, Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) . . . told witnesses that he would use their testimony to make the case for higher NSF funding to appropriators. Research Subcommittee Chairman Nick Smith (R-MI) described how committee members were 'aggressive' in trying to get NSF funding increased in the House Budget Committee's version of a budget resolution. On that same day, the Budget Committee approved a resolution containing an 11 percent increase for NSF — 6 percent more than the Administration requested."

Some insight into the high level of support for the NSF and for nanotechnology research in particular can be found in a speech delivered on 8 March 2002 by House Science Committee Chair Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) at a nanotechnology conference held at the Brookhaven National Laboratory to formally launched the Labís new $55 million Center for Functional Nanomaterials (see Nanodot post from 22 March 2002). Boehlert said, "I will do everything in my power to ensure that nanotechnology research gets the funding it deserves — not just in the Department of Energy [which operates the Brookhaven Lab] but throughout the federal government."
[Some excerpts from the speech also appear on the AIP site.]

Finally, for the minority Memberís views, see "An Analysis by the Minority Staff of the House Science Committee" from 5 February 2002.

Debate over these issues is also likely to arise in the U.S. Senate if, as planned, a bill on nanotechnology research funding sponsored by Senator Joe Leiberman and others is submitted (see Nanodot post from 27 December 2001).

Mr_Farlops writes "Using nanorods and liquid plastic semiconductor, researchers at University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have created a solar cell that can be painted or sprayed onto a surface.

The Sacramento Bee article, which I found on Slash, was a bit short on details and perhaps incorrectly cites this discovery as an advance in nanotechnology."

[Editor's Note: Additional information, including some diagrams of the solar cells, can be found in this joint press release (28 March 2002) from the UC-Berkeley and LBL.

Additional coverage is available in an article from the Reuters News Service ("Group Makes Cheap Plastic Solar Energy Cells", 28 March 2002), and another from United Press International ("Researchers make plastic solar cells", 28 March 2002).]

from the what's-really-going-on-here? dept.
An extensive article on the Small Times website ("Second top official to step down at California NanoSystems Institute", by Jayne Fried, 22 March 2002) reports that molecular computing researcher James Heath will step down as an acting co-director of the California NanoSystems Institute (http://www.cnsi.ucla.edu/) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) . . . but not right away. Heath will be leaving UCLA to devote more time to research, and will join the faculty at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "It's a tough thing to do, to go to Caltech," Heath told Small Times. "This (CNSI) is my baby, but it comes down to when I go to bed at night I think about institute problems."

According to the article, Heath expressed disappointment and frustration with the pace at which technology is moving from research labs to the marketplace within the University of California system. "UC has not been very strong in transferring intellectual property out into the world and making it happen," Heath said. Part of the reason is that the UC system is a "big company that is not quite as nimble as it could be."

The report notes that Heath's departure leaves the multi-million dollar CNSI with co-director Evelyn Hu, a nanotech electrical and computer engineer at UC Santa Barbara, and Roy Doumani, acting chief operating officer. Hu is one of the founders of CNSI. "I won't deny Jim's leaving is something that is very sobering because he's had such an influence," Hu said. "We worked so closely together." The article also notes that although Heath will be at Caltech, Doumani said Heath "will remain active and be able to stay as a member of CNSI." The plan appears to be an open door policy in which scientists outside the UC system will participate in CNSI. "I hope to find a way to get Caltech involved in the institute," Heath said.

As the title of the Small Times article reflects, Heath is the second major figure to announce departure from a CNSI leadership position in recent months. In January 2002, Martha Krebs left as director of CNSI for a broader role at UCLA. Krebs was also associate vice chancellor of UCLA for research, and said she will be devote herself full time to that job. Krebs was a key figure in establishing CNSI, and had moved to California a year ago from Washington, D.C., to become director of the institute. Previously, as science director at the U.S. Department of Energy, Krebs helped establish the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative.

Mr_Farlops writes "A Melbourne university student has developed a program that generates algorithms for quantum computers. As Nanodotter, Mark Gubrud made plain [in a Nanodot post from 30 August 2001], setting up algorithms for quantum computers is very hard. Because of this, most research with quantum computers has focused on Shor factoring. But with this new tool perhaps new methods will become availible.

If you agree with Penrose (I am still very skeptical), the brain uses obscure quantum physics to process the data that it does. For this reason and others this research in quantum computing may apply to artificial intelligence."

CMP Cientifica, a European-based nanotechnology research and consulting company, and nAbacus, a nanotech consulting company based in Hong Kong, have finally issued their Nanotechnology Opportunity Report, a 500-page, two-volume report that offers an in-depth look at nanotechnology from a business, technology and global perspective.

An article on the Small Times website ("Nanotech reality check: New report tries to cut hype, keep numbers real", by E. Pfeiffer, 11 March 2002) provides a good overview of the report.

In conjunction with Foresight Institute, CMP Cientifica is offering special pricing on the NOR for members of the Foresight community. For more information, or to order, visit the Foresight NOR web page.

eru writes "A press release issued on March 13th on the NSF website announced that selected portions of the "Small Wonders: Exploring the Vast Potential of Nanoscience" symposium will be webcast live on Tuesday, March 19. Further details, including scheduling, can be found here."

Gaming the Future: The Book!

Category: news

Superconducting film on carbon nanotube

Derwent patent service will add focus on nanotech IP

Quantum computing: storage of quantum data

Magnetic Properties of Nanocrystals

U.S. House debates direction of national nanotech funding, policy

Photovoltaic Paint? (flexible solar cells)

James Heath will step down as CNSI head, maybe, in a while . . .

New Algorithms for Quantum Computers

Nanotechnology Opportunity Report (NOR) released

Streaming Coverage of NSF Nanotech Symposium

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