Yesterday at the IFTF meeting (pdf) “Beyond the Horizon: Science and Technology in Ten, Twenty and Fifty Years” we heard from a leading synthetic biologist. In addition to describing this fascinating and potentially powerful new technology, he made a plea that it not be “re-militarized” (as biology was formerly, he said) and that we needed… Continue reading Synthetic biology and nanotech
This week I’m attending the Institute for the Future’s meeting titled Beyond the Horizon: Science & Technology in Ten, Twenty & Fifty Years. Overall, it’s great and I recommend it. Reminds me of Foresight’s Vision Weekends. Tomorrow I’ll be presenting our Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems project at one of the breakouts. The meeting was… Continue reading IFTF predicts nanotech 50 years out
In addition to the May 30 webcast on nanotech for space elevator applications, see this Wednesday a webcast from the Wilson Center on Green Nanotechnology policy: “What policy incentives can they put in place to encourage a ‘green’ nanotechnology industry that uses energy efficiently and produces minimum waste? What can government do to promote development… Continue reading Green Nanotech webcast this Wednesday
Here at Foresight we get continual requests from students for advice on which schools to attend to pursue nanotechnology. Small Times has generously posted their second annual survey of U.S. universities’ abilities in nano and micro work. (Or, download the whole May/June issue in pdf, 5.5 MB — this is easier to read.) It’s a… Continue reading Top nanotech universities in U.S. named
Another batch of eleven essays on molecular manufacturing brought to you by CRN: “Nanoethics and Technological Revolutions: A Précis” – Nick Bostrom “From The Enlightenment to N-Lightenment” – Michael Buerger “What Price Freedom?” – Robert A. Freitas Jr. “The (Needed) New Economics of Abundance” – Steve Burgess “Economic Impact of the Personal Nanofactory” – Robert… Continue reading Eleven new nanotech essays from CRN
In the mail from Wiley-VCH: the new book The Nanotech Pioneers: Where Are They Taking Us? by Steven Edwards. The visionaries singled out are the usual crowd plus one name rarely listed: Feynman, Drexler, Merkle, Kurzweil, Von Ehr, Binnig, Roco, and the unusual one, the late Ernst Ruska, co-inventor of the electron microscope. Lots more… Continue reading Mini-review: The Nanotech Pioneers
Washington DC was the place to be today, for the Center on Nanotechnology and Society’s 1st Annual Conference on Nanopolicy and the Human Future held at the National Press Club. Much learned nanopunditry from both sides of the big issues. Sean Murdock of the Nanobusiness Alliance and John Sargent of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce… Continue reading Nanopundits duke it out at National Press Club
In the Journal of Nanoparticle Research is a review by David Guston of the (expensive) book Nanotalk: Conversations with Scientists and Engineers about Ethics, Meaning, and Belief in the Development of Nanotechnology, by Rosalyn Berne. Some excerpts from the review (172 KB pdf): “It provides a modest stage for the researchers Berne interviewed to rehearse… Continue reading 35 nanotechnologists discuss nano ethics
Reservations are now open for the Singularity Summit at Stanford, and based on the booking numbers I’ve just heard, we should expect the event to fill early. If you want to attend, it would be wise to reserve your seat right now. Eric Drexler will speak on productive nanosystems, Ray Kurzweil on how fast change… Continue reading Reserve now for Summit with Drexler, Kurzweil, Hofstadter, Thiel, Jurvetson, etc. & moi
In their Medical Products industry section, Accenture analysts Roland Hengerer and Martin Illsley describe what we can expect from nanotech for medicine: “To give just a sense of the possibilities, scientists and engineers are experimenting with ways to ‘nanostructure’ matter in such a way as to create industrial materials that are 100 times stronger than… Continue reading Accenture on nanotech for medicine
