Results for ""molecular nanotechnology""

HLovy writes "Here we are, through the looking glass, where we ponder the impact of molecular nanotechnology upon the ethical fiber of our society, when we have yet to settle a cosmic bar bet on whether it's possible at all." See "Settle a little bet for me"

Foresight President Christine Peterson's talk at Pop!Tech 2003, a conference held Oct. 16-19 in Camden, Maine, on "The Impact of Technology on People", presented Foresight's view on the "Sea Change" to be brought by technological transformation over the coming decades. She was quoted on the importance of investment in developing molecular nanotechnology (recently termed "zettatechnology") for the sake of curing diseases, safe-guarding security, protecting the environment, and easily traveling in space.

Mike Treder writes "A detailed design study for a personal-size nanofactory has been published by Chris Phoenix, Director of Research for Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN). The proposed nanofactory could rapidly manufacture a wide array of advanced products, including more nanofactories, while using minimal resources. 'Design of a Primitive Nanofactory' appeared in the peer-reviewed Journal of Evolution and Technology. The 84-page technical paper is the most comprehensive examination of nanofactory architecture yet produced."

Mike Treder writes "The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN) is calling for the creation of a special administrative system to deal with the problems of molecular manufacturing. 'We don't need it today,' said CRN Executive Director Mike Treder, 'but it will take time to create, and the technology could arrive before we're ready.'"

HLovy writes "So, what's a nice nanotech entrepreneur like James Clements doing in a place like this?

The founder of Nanosciences Inc., a man with impeccable business credentials, has apparently fallen in with a bad crowd, hanging out here with a bunch of "crackpot" scientists at last weekend's 11th Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology.

That's the sort of reaction Clements almost universally received from fellow nanotechnology business people when he told them he planned to attend this gathering. Foresight is a nonprofit collection of folks who have been dreaming for decades of a nanotechnology that has yet to exist. It's the one envisioned in 1986 by Eric Drexler in "Engines of Creation," of molecular assemblers that can rearrange atoms into any way permitted by the laws of physics, the nanotechnology that existed in theory before the "n" word morphed into sunscreen, pants and "nanobusiness."

"Crackpots," Clements said, and "too SciFi," were the comments he kept getting from other nanotech entrepreneurs. "I still find it absolutely amazing that one early-adoption population considers another early adoption population a bit too 'out there.' "

For the complete story, please see Small Times."

from the hats-off-to dept.
During the 10th Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing announced the winners of the 2002 IMM Prizes in Computational Nanotechnology. Awards were made in three categories of the four categories covered by the IMM Prizes in Computational Nanotechnology. The DESIGN Category was won by the team of Santiago Solares, Mario Blanco, and William A. Goddard III. The RENDERING Category was won by Carlo D. Montemagno. The SIMULATION Category was won by Lawrence Fields and Jillian Rose.

from the hats-off-to dept.
During the 10th Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology the Foresight Institute announced the following prize winners. The winners of the 2002 Foresight Institute Feynman Prizes in Nanotechnology were Chad Mirkin for the Experimental category and Don Brenner for the Theory category. The winner of the 2002 Foresight Institute Distinguished Student Award was Yi Cui. The winner of the 2002 Foresight Institute Prize in Communication was David Pescovitz. A story reporting the awards was carried by Small Times and by the UPI.

from the what's-in-a-name dept.
PatGratton writes with a "fairly radical suggestion" to distinguish molecular manufacturing/molecular nanotechnology, as proposed by Eric Drexler in Engines of Creation and Nanosystems, from other nanoscale science and technologies currently covered by the term nanotechnology. Following is his abstract of his argument. "The full argument is available on my web site: Nanotech vs. Nanotech (Part 1) is intended for a general audience, while Nanotech vs. Nanotech (Part 2) is intended for Feynman/Drexler nanotech advocates. Each document is about two pages."