Mr_Farlops writes "With a scanning probe microscope acting as pen and DNA acting as ink, scientists have built nanoscopic arrays that will soon revolutionize research in molecular biology. These tiny arrays would be the last statement in gene-testing chips because, by reducing things to the ultimate testing compenents, single strands of DNA, they will be much cheaper and faster to make than conventional gene chips.The arrays may have extensive use in nanotechnology as well because the builder can control which strands of DNA bind to which spots on the substrate and since each strand of DNA will only bind with its corresponding complement of base-pairs, one can quickly sort molecules, reagents, enzymes, etc.

"By taking advantage of DNA as a type of biochemical Velcro, we should be able to build a circuit, a catalyst, a sensor or a transistor from the bottom up, instead of the top down." says, Chad A. Mirkin, director of Northwestern Universityís Institute for Nanotechnology and one of the chief developers of dip-pen nanolithography."

The U.S. National Research Council (NRC) has issued a report assessing the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative. According to a report from United Press International ("US needs 'crisp' nanotech plan", by Scott Burnell, 10 June 2002), the NNI "has had a good start but needs sharper focus".

The report was also covered in an article on the Small Times website ("National Research Council report says some changes needed in NNI", by Doug Brown, 11 June 2002).

Background on the NRC assessment of the NNI, see the Nanodot post from 30 October 2001.

waynerad writes "Researchers at the University of Arizona are exploring ways to 'grow' microchips using proteins from living cells.

The new biological interconnects would bypass lithography, etching and soldering processes with long strings of proteins called microtubules (MT). They'll connect transistors and other devices in microchips by growing between the device junctions. They're solder-free, don't involve lithography or etching, and are highly uniform. Once the proteins connect devices, they will be coated with metal and turned into microscopic wires.

MTs are common in nature. They help cells carry out mitosis (cell division) and have diameters of about 24 nanometers. MTs also can grow to several microns in length."

[The press release also cautions: "[D]on't start looking for MTs in devices at your local electronics store any time soon. The research still is in the "basic science" stage, and much remains to be done by scientists and engineers from widely diverse backgrounds."]

WillWare writes "There has recently been released a partially open-sourced version of the Cyc artificial intelligence program. Information can be found at http://www.opencyc.org/. Cycorp, the commercial venture that developed Cyc, writes the following on the benefits of this release.

From this point forward, real-world common sense can be expected to play an integral part of software applications. For the first time, the world's only large-scale, task-independent, language-independent, extensible, reusable, common-sense knowledge base is being made available to the world. Beginning now, software can become increasingly and arbitrarily smarter.

They expect the following benefits for themselves.

To establish Cyc as the standard for knowledge representation, for knowledge management, for data base integration, and in general for intelligent software applications. Also, the release of OpenCyc will help lay the groundwork for the massively parallel effort to rapidly grow the Cyc [knowledge base]… OpenCyc will raise awareness for symbolic knowledge representation. It will also create opportunities for combining symbolic and rule-based systems with other technologies, such as neural networks, planning systems, machine learning and genetic algorithms.

One might expect that the most MNT-relevant AI programs will look more like CAD programs than common-sense databases, at least in the near future. Where the Cyc technology would have an advantage would be in addressing problems that are not already well formulated and well studied. Perhaps a Cyc-based program could be a good researcher, or a good economic or political advisor, or would fare better in meeting the unexpected challenges that might be encountered on a long term space mission than a more clearly goal-specific program. In any event, it's an interesting development, and it will be intriguing to see what is done with the open-source release."

from the IMM-Prizes-entry dept.
Lawrence Fields and Jillian Rose writes "This is our submission for the 2002 IMM Prizes in Computational Nanotechnology, under the category of "rendering":

http://www.phleschbubble.com/album/beyondhuman/res pirocyte_still.htm

(Please see our description for our entry for "simulation".)"

from the Molectronics dept.
If youíre looking for more information about the accusations of scientific misconduct being leveled against researchers at Lucent Technologies' Bell Laboratories who claimed breakthroughs in molecular electronics and superconducting fullerenes in a series of papers last year (see Nanodot post from 17 December 2001), hereís a sampling of recent press coverage:

• An item from Reuters News Service ("Bell Labs Probes Validity of Acclaimed Experiments", by Daniel Sorid, 22 May 2002).
• Kenneth Chang of the New York Times has written several in-depth articles on the story (Note: access to the NYT site if free, but requires registration):
  – "Bell Labs Forms Panel to Study Claims of Research Misconduct", 21 May 2002.
  – "Similar Graphs Raised Suspicions on Bell Labs Research", 23 May 2002.
  – "A Sudden Host of Questions on Bell Labs Breakthroughs", 28 May 2002.
• The story was also covered in an article in Chemical and Engineering News ("Bell Labs papers questioned", by Mitch Jacoby, 27 May 2002.)

Lawrence Fields and Jillian Rose write "This is our entry for the [2002 IMM Prizes in Computational Nanotechnology], under the category of "simulation".

The URL below leads to the entry webpage for our respirocyte animation:
http://www.phleschbubble.com/album/beyondhuman/res pirocyte01.htm

To see the quicktime movie, just click on the "click here" text near the top of the page (please note you need Quicktime 5 to view the movie).

The respirocyte, designed by Robert Freitas, is a proposed artificial red blood cell (RBC) which would be injected into the bloodstream. Respirocytes would actively intake oxygen in the lungs and release it in the capillaries, then absorb carbon dioxide before releasing it in the lungs. By working much more efficiently than the body's own RBC's, they would help keep a patient's tissues alive after emergencies which compromise lung function, or other situations of low blood oxygen levels.

The animation was created by Phlesch Bubble Prods. for a PBS documentary about the future of humanity entitled "Beyond Human" (produced by Thomas Lucas Productions)."

Collected Coverage of May NanoBusiness Conference Numerous press reports of the NanoBusiness Spring 2002 conference, organized by the NanoBusiness Alliance (NBA) and held 19-21 May 2002 in New York City, covered the diversity of presentations made during the conference:

• A report from United Press International ("Nanotech's development called inevitable", by Scott Burnell, 20 May 2002) described the visionary presentation by Ray Kurzweil on the potential capabilities of advanced nanotechnology, as well as brief mention of the remarks made by former U.S. House Speaker New Gringrich.
• Gingrichís remarks received more extensive coverage in a similar piece on the Small Times website ("Visionaries see the promise and the nightmare of nanotech", by Jack Mason, 21 May 2002) that also included coverage of Kurzweilís speech.
• Additional coverage of Gingrichís keynote address appeared on the Wired website ("Newt Gingrich Gets Small", by Patrick Di Justo, 20 May 2002).

Coverage of the business and venture capital perspectives on the emerging nanotech sector:

• Another item from Scott Burnell at UPI ("Private funding limited for nanotech", 21 May 2002) noted that "Long lead times for payback on investments probably will discourage venture capitalists from funding nanotechnology start-up companies for some time, [conference] speakers said."
• The cautious approach of some venture capitalists toward nanotech investments was highlighted in an item from CNETís News.com website ("With nanotech, VCs are playing it safe", by Tiffany Kary, 23 May 2002). The article also appeared on the New York Times website.
• A somewhat different perspective was offered by a piece on the Wired website ("Big Bucks From Little Science", by Patrick Di Justo, 23 May 2002).
• Finally, waynerad noted "This article at nanotechweb is from a participant at two nanotechnology business and investment conferences in the US (Nanotech Planet in San Jose and the NanoBusiness Alliance's NanoBusiness Spring in New York City). He says, 'Despite the worst conditions for raising funding for a decade, venture capital and professional services companies are scrambling to get a piece of nanotech.'"

Stephan J. Schmidt writes "According to a press release, Infineon announced that "Infineon Technologies achieves breakthrough in carbon nanotube technology – First microelectronics compatible growth of nanotubes at predefined sites on silicon wafers". The press release is online at:
http://www.infineon.com/news/press/206_101e.htm"

from the late-but-catching-up-fast dept.
The IEEE was not the first engineering professional society to notice nanotechnology, but they are moving fast now. From the June 2002 newsletter "The Institute": Half of the IEEE Societies (19) are represented on its Nanotechnology Council…The Council will hold its second nanotechnology conference on 26-28 Aug. in Arlington…The IEEE is also developing a Web-based virtual community platform to enable collaborations…open to anyone…"