From: Gina Miller (nanogirl@halcyon.com)
Date: Sun May 11 2003 - 15:40:39 MDT
The Nanogirl News
May 11, 2003
U.S. House approves $2.4 billion for nanotech research. The U.S. House of
Representatives gave a big boost to a tiny technology on Wednesday, voting
to increase research funding that could lead to molecule-sized computers and
medical robots that travel the human bloodstream. By a vote of 405-19, the
House earmarked $2.36 billion over three years to fund research in
nanotechnology, the science of manipulating individual atoms to create new
materials. (Yahoo 5/8/03)
http://in.tech.yahoo.com/030508/137/243bo.html
Brave new world or miniature menace? Why Charles fears grey goo nightmare.
Royal Society asked to look at risks of nanotechnology. The scenario is a
familiar one: scientists open Pandora's box, awaken Frankenstein's monster,
or maybe just play God. But this time the menace on the laboratory bench is
undetectable with any conceivable optical microscope.
It offers a nightmare vision straight out of science fiction - the
destruction of the environment, perhaps even of the world, by robots smaller
than viruses, able to share intelligence, replicate themselves and take
command of the planet. That is the catch with nanotechnology: you cannot see
it, so you cannot know how afraid you should be. But if Prince Charles is
any guide, environmentalists should be very afraid indeed. (Guardian
Unlimited 4/29/03)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,945498,00.html
How to Grab an Atom. Like a diner spearing a morsel of food with the tine of
a fork, researchers have used the tip of a microscopic needle to lift a
single atom from a surface and then replace it. The experiment, reported in
the 2 May PRL, marks the first time single atoms have been manipulated using
a purely mechanical technique, rather than one involving electric current.
The new method could allow researchers to maneuver single atoms of
nonconductive as well as conductive materials, perhaps for nanoscale
circuits of the future. (Physical Review Focus 5/3/03)
http://focus.aps.org/story/v11/st19
Mighty Mini Motor (video). Nanotechnologists try to create new materials or
incredibly tiny machines by manipulating atoms and molecules. One of
nanotechnology's biggest dreams is biomedical devices that could travel
anywhere inside your body and fix parts that need repair. Today, some
scientists have already made a start on this dream. They're making
incredibly tiny motors that could drive the world's smallest machines, and
help keep us well...At Purdue University's School of Veterinary Medicine,
molecular biologist Peixuan Guo thinks that RNA has enormous potential for
nanotechnology because it is an extremely flexible molecule. "RNA is much
easier to make than protein," Guo explains, "and compared to DNA, it comes
in many more sizes and shapes. With DNA, we are limited to its double helix
structure." Guo and his research team have discovered that RNA binds
adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, the chemical fuel that proteins use in the
body to allow muscles to move and nerves to function. "ATP works the way
gasoline does in a car," says Guo. "You could not walk or talk or think
without the chemical fuel of ATP." (ScienCenteral News 5/1/03)
http://www.sciencentral.com/news/articles/view.php3?language=english&type=arede0
ticle&article_id=218391944
Proteins produce nano-magnetic computer memory. Computer hard drive capacity
could be increased a hundredfold by using a common protein to fabricate
nano-scale magnetic particles, claims UK company Nanomagnetics. It uses the
protein apoferritin, the main molecule in which iron is stored in the body,
to create a material consisting of magnetic particles each just a few
nanometres in diameter. Each particle can store a bit of information and
together they can be packed onto a disk drive at much greater density than
is possible using existing hard disk manufacturing methods. (New Scientist
4/27/03)
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993664
Playing God. Through genetic engineering, you could give birth to an
Olympian, a musical prodigy or a genius -- but should you? Bill McKibben is
a man on the edge. He lives on the edge of the Adirondack wilderness in New
York, where he writes books about the limits of technology. Fifteen years
ago, he wrote "The End of Nature," in which he argued, with cogency and
foresight, that human dependence on fossil fuels was endangering our
relationship to the Earth itself. In his new book, "Enough," McKibben
describes a new edge. We've come to a threshold with the emerging
technologies of genetic engineering, robotics and nanotechnology, McKibben
believes. One more step and we will "call into question our understanding of
what it means to be a human being." (San Francisco Chronicle 4.27.03)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2003/04/27/RV
183594.DTL&type=books
(More) 'Please, sir, could I have less? 'Bill McKibben argues that our
thirst for technological progress threatens the nature of humanity...Genetic
engineering, nanotechnology, robotics, and other related technologies may,
he writes, "alter our relationship not with the rest of nature but with
ourselves." McKibben argues that this debate is too important to be left to
scientists. "Must we forever grow in reach and power?" he asks. "Or can we,
should we, ever say, 'Enough'?"
(Christian Science Monitor 5/1/03)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0501/p15s01-bogn.html
PSU looks to future with nanotechnology. Proposed program would provide
millions in research funds. Portland State University professor Jun Jiao
addressed the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and
Transportation last Thursday regarding the 21st Century Nanotechnology
Research and Development Act. Nanotechnology is an emerging field in which
matter is manipulated at the atomic level in order to build materials,
machines, and devices. Advances in the fields of nanoscience and
nanotechnology could lead to breakthroughs in areas such as materials and
manufacturing, nanoelectronics, medicine and healthcare, environment,
energy, chemicals, biotechnology, agriculture, information technology and
national security. (Daily Vanguard 5/8/03)
http://www.dailyvanguard.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/05/08/3eb9dc05bc25d
Interested in finding out what happened at the Foresight Senior Associate
Gathering? Read about it at Nanodot. (5/8/03)
http://nanodot.org/article.pl?sid=03/05/09/0016206
Nanoscale Networks: Superlong nanotubes can form a grid. For a decade,
materials scientists have dreamed of using cylinders of carbon with walls
just one atom thick as the building blocks for a new generation of sensors,
transistors, and other tiny devices. Before that happens, however,
researchers must find better ways to grow and align these carbon nanotubes.
Jie Liu and his colleagues at Duke University in Durham, N.C., now report
growing the longest individual carbon nanotubes ever and aligning them in a
two-dimensional grid. (Sciencenews 5/3/03)
http://www.sciencenews.org/20030503/fob2.asp
Nanoprobe To Be Developed For A 'Fantastic Voyage' In The Human Body,
Finding And Treating Deadly Tumors. A UC Irvine research team has received a
five-year, $1.4 million National Institutes of Health grant to develop a
microscopic probe for detecting and treating pre-cancerous and malignant
tumors in humans. Similar to the miniaturized vessel that explores a human
body in the science fiction movie "Fantastic Voyage," this nano-sized probe
would be inserted into a patient and then guided through the esophagus,
stomach and colon to determine if tumors are growing on the wall of the
intestine. The probe would be remotely controlled by a surgeon operating a
device called an endoscope. (ScienceDaily 5/9/03)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/05/030509085108.htm
Nanosys raises $30 million. Nanosys Inc., a maker of nanotechnology-enabled
systems based in Palo Alto, pocketed $30 million in the first closing of its
second round of financing. (bizjournals 4/24/03)
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2003/04/21/daily52.html
On the tube. A new type of computer memory uses carbon, rather than
silicon...Carbon comes in many forms. Diamonds and graphite are two of the
most familiar ones. A less familiar variety is the nanotube, also known as a
"buckytube" after Richard Buckminster Fuller, whose geodesic domes have a
framework similar to the arrangement of the atoms in a nanotube. Nanotubes
consist of a cylindrical array of carbon atoms whose diameter is only about
1 nanometre (a billionth of a metre). If Nantero, a firm based in Woburn,
Massachusetts, proves correct, such tubes will soon be an integral part of
computer memories. (The Economist 5/8/03)
http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1763552
Small is beautiful but is it dangerous too?...What does nano mean?...When
did it start?...Is it dangerous?...Such as?...Is there a pay-off?...Are
there environmental dangers?... (Guardian Unlimited 4/29/03)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,945499,00.html
IBM finds plenty of room at bottom. In an incredibly tiny development which
marks a giant leap in nanotechnology - the science of working on the atomic
and molecular scale - global computing giant IBM's research division has
created the world's smallest solid-state light emitter. The breakthrough is
a graphite nanotube - a sheet of graphite (a form of carbon) rolled into a
tube - transformed into the world's first, electrically-controlled,
single-molecule light emitter.
(The Times of India 5/11/03)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articleshow?msid=46006
004
Atoms Incognito. As with people, some atoms prefer to join in groups, while
others insist on going it alone. But when prodded with laser light,
inherently gregarious atoms known as bosons can act like loner atoms known
as fermions, a duo of theoretical physicists predict in the 18 April PRL.
The faux-loner atoms can even form tenuous pairs, much like the electrons in
a superconductor, so that they resemble a long-sought new state of matter.
(Physical Review Focus 4/18/03)
http://focus.aps.org/story/v11/st16
Skin-deep answer will put mobiles into the wrist business. Advances in
nanotechnology mean that the lost or stolen mobile phone could become a
thing of the past, according to technology research hothouse BTexact. Ian
Pearson, Suffolk based BTexact's futurologist believes that the concept of
'active skin' - whereby incredibly small electronic circuits are inkjet
printed onto the surface of the skin - could become a reality by 2010. This,
he says, will open the way for the integration of electronic devices such as
the mobile phones or televisions literally 'into' the human body. (Business
Weekly 4/28/03)
http://www.businessweekly.co.uk/news/view_article.asp?article_id=7598
Nano and the Professor. In 1959, physicist Dr. Richard Feynman gave birth to
the concept of nanotechnology. Feynman described the theoretical approaches
to "manipulating and controlling things on a very small scale." For
instance, he recognized that computers, then the size of buildings, would
need to get continually smaller to become important to our lives. He also
predicted advances in medicine and learning. Feynman's only real misjudgment
was that he overestimated our ability to figure any of this out. "In the
year 2000, when they look back at this age, they will wonder why it was not
until the year 1960 that anybody began seriously to move in this direction."
(The American Spectator 5/8/03)
http://www.spectator.org/article.asp?art_id=2003_5_7_23_37_44
Researchers see the light as they peel away space mystery. Tiny multilayered
balls called "carbon onions," produced in laboratory studies, appear to have
the same light-absorption characteristics as dust particles in the regions
between the stars. "It's the strongest evidence yet that cosmic dust has a
multilayered onionlike carbon structure," said Manish Chhowalla, assistant
professor of ceramic and materials engineering at Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey. Chhowalla used transmission electron microscopes
to study radiation absorption of the laboratory-produced onions and found
characteristics virtually identical to those reported by astrophysicists
studying dust in deep space. A carbon onion is a miniscule but intricate
component of nanotechnology-the study of structures and devices on a scale
that can approach one-millionth the width of a human hair. (ISA 4/30/03)
http://www.isa.org/Template.cfm?Section=Professionals_and_Practitioners&temp
late=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=26090
Nanotech giving birth to a whole new revolution. Budding science will spur
flurry of inventions. In the not-too-distant future, your house could be
built with strong tiles that heat the rooms with solar power. Inside you
could watch a smooth, flat-panel TV with electronic components built right
into the glass instead of a web of wires at the back.
Nanosys Inc., a small Palo Alto nanotechnology firm, plans to deliver these
and other products within the next three years. Nanosys' inventions arose
from the type of industry collaboration with academic labs that Congress has
been trying to promote since 2000 through an escalating round of funding for
nanotechnology research. (SFGate 5/8/03)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/05/08/MN171263.DTL&typ
e=tech
More news re: Nanosys - Nanosys raises $30 million. Nanosys Inc., a maker of
nanotechnology-enabled systems based in Palo Alto, pocketed $30 million in
the first closing of its second round of financing. (bizjournals 4/24/03)
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2003/04/21/daily52.html
Nanotechnology Leaders to Gather in New York City Next Week for 2nd Annual
NanoBusiness 2003 Conference. NanoBusiness 2003, produced by Penton Media
(NYSE: PME, http://www.penton.com), will raise the curtain next week on its
2nd annual event focused on the emerging nanotechnology industry. Produced
in association with the NanoBusiness Alliance (http://www.nanobusiness.org),
the event will be held at the New York Marriott Financial Center in New York
City, from May 11-13, and is designed to drive forward the emerging business
of microsystems and nanotechnology. Complete information and online
registration can be found at http://www.nanobusiness2003.com. (Stockhouse
5/8/03)
http://www.stockhouse.com/news/news.asp?tick=PME&newsid=1674276
Advances pave way for 'nanobots'. Despite tantalizing lab results, building
robots on a molecular scale would seem to be a futuristic pipe dream. But a
research report on robotic technology published by Business Communications
Co. Inc. (Norwalk, Conn.) claims that nanobots are "on the cusp," thanks to
robust research worldwide on the problem. (EETimes 4/28/03)
http://www.eet.com/at/im/news/OEG20030428S0063
Companies bring war to nanoscale to combat unseen bio/chem enemies. One of
the many take-home lessons for the United States and its allies after the
1991 Persian Gulf War was a need for better protection against biological
and chemical weapons. Years after the conflict, soldiers complained of
ailments they believed resulted from exposure to the Iraqi regime's arsenal.
More than a decade later, several companies are turning to nanotechnology to
counter the threats of biological and chemical warfare. Their efforts range
from gloves and gear that block out toxic chemicals and germs to fabrics and
powders that deactivate and destroy the deadly agents. Military and
university research labs also are developing protective skin creams,
emulsions and even drugs to reduce the dangers. (Small Times 5/8/03)
http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=5957
Gina "Nanogirl" Miller
Nanotechnology Industries
http://www.nanoindustries.com
Personal: http://www.nanogirl.com
Foresight Senior Associate http://www.foresight.org
Extropy member http://www.extropy.org
nanogirl@halcyon.com
"Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future."
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