Category: Reviews

from the nanotech-defined-as-protein-only dept.
David Coutts writes about the book Evolution Isn't What It Used To Be: The Augmented Animal and the Whole Wired World by Walter Truett Anderson: "In his brief mention of nanotechnology he says: 'The third generation, which – depending upon what you read – may never come or may be just around the corner, is nanotechnology: miniscule protein computers, submicroscopic protein machines that will sail through the bloodstream to fight disease or repair damage to the body'…He has limited the nanotechnology vision to a third generation protein building tool…This is either laziness, ignorance or a peculiar form of psychological blindness or phobia I shall dub nanophobia. So, whilst I would agree that skepticism of a largely unproven technology is entirely healthy, the author should try and present the full picture or at least clearly state that the working definition of nanotechnology (for any book or article) is deliberately limited by the author." Read More for the full post.

from the chemistry-isn't-technology? dept.
David Coutts writes "I'm just finishing "Genome: The autobiography of a species in 23 chapters" by respected science journalist Matt Ridley…Genome is a good book, and I can recommend it…What prompted me to post to Nanodot.org was the chapter on Self Assembly (Chapter 12, featuring developmental genes from Chromosone 12). Ridley opens the chapter by highlighting useful human analogies for most things we find in nature. Examples given are bats using sonar, the eye is a camera, natural selection is trial and error etc. However, Ridley states that there is no such analogy for self assembly. Nature can grow a human (or other creature) from a single cell, but there is "no human analogy at all" in our technology for self assembly. Hmm – how about nanotechnology? I found this a useful reminder that the concept of nanotechnology is both unfamiliar and alien to the vast majority of people." Read More for David's full post. CP: One could argue that synthetic organic chemistry technology is entirely based on self-assembly. The structures made are often not found in nature.

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.