From: Gina Miller (nanogirl@halcyon.com)
Date: Wed Jan 08 2003 - 01:54:00 MST
The Nanogirl News
January 08, 2003
Breakthrough Brings Laser Light To New Regions Of The Spectrum. Combining
concepts from electromagnetic radiation research and fiber optics,
researchers have created an extreme-ultraviolet, laser-like beam capable of
producing tightly-focused light in a region of the electromagnetic spectrum
not previously accessible to scientists. Between 10-100 times shorter than
visible light waves, the extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths will allow
researchers to "see" tiny features and carve miniature patterns, with
applications in such fields as microscopy, lithography and nanotechnology.
(ScienceDaily 1/1/03)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/01/030101222126.htm
K. Eric Drexler responds to the question: "What are the pressing scientific
issues for the nation and the world, and what is your advice on how I can
begin to deal with them?" The Edge: The World Question Center 2003. Advanced
nanotechnologies, based on molecular manufacturing, will enable the
production of computer systems a billion times more powerful than today's,
aerospace vehicles with 98% less structural mass, and medical tools enabling
molecular repair of cells, tissues, and organs. These and related
technologies will be economically and strategically decisive. (Response by:)
K. Eric Drexler.
Dear Mr. President: I must respectfully decline your invitation, as I am
unsuited to such a role, but I wish to take this opportunity to offer a
potentially crucial piece of advice regarding strategic research directions.
The United States, like all the leading technological powers, has recently
turned its research efforts toward a broad field called "nanotechnology". I
introduced this term in the mid-1980s and described long-term prospects that
helped motivate the recent explosion of interest and investment. (The Edge
03)
http://www.edge.org/q2003/q03_drexler.html
Molten metal in motion. Nanoscale inclusions of lead in aluminum don't melt
until they're over 100 degrees hotter than the melting temperature of lead
in bulk. Then watch out! The tiny blobs of liquid careen through solid
aluminum just the way Einstein described in his classic 1905 paper on
Brownian motion. (Berkeley Lab science beat 12/17/02)
http://enews.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/MSD-Brownian-motion.html
Researchers in industry and academia tinker with self-repairing systems,
molecular circuits and more. The customarily languid pace at which
scientific research blossoms into practical applications appeared to speed
up this year with a number of discoveries being rushed toward
commercialization. Autonomic computing, in which systems can configure and
repair themselves, took a big leap forward when Pennsylvania State
University researchers said they had developed software that can repair--on
the fly--an attacked database while allowing it to continue processing
transactions. (ZDnet 12/30/02)
http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?j55922320&w=501400
Or:
http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/enterprise/story/0,2000025001,20270873,00.h
tm
Chemical attraction solves geometric puzzles. Circuit builders could
capitalize on self-assembling floating patterns. Chop up a square into four
pieces, and reassemble them into a triangle. This kind of geometric
dissection puzzle delighted ancient Chinese scholars. Chemists have now
created self-solving dissections. Their trick could help in building
easy-to-modify circuits. George Whitesides of Harvard University in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and colleagues design the edges of floating
polygonal shapes so that they stick together in a particular arrangement.
(Nature Science update 12/23/02)
http://www.nature.com/nsu/021223/021223-2.html
Nanotechnology makes Smallbany the place to be...nanotechnology may well
make Albany a hot spot. Nanotechnology is the creation and use of materials,
devices and systems that are formed through the control of matter at the
nanometer-length level. A nanometer is 75,000 times smaller than the width
of a human hair. In the 21st century, nanotechnology is expected to change
everything. It may certainly give new meaning to the phrase Smallbany.
(The Business Review 12/27/02)
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2002/12/30/editorial1.html
Also see a readers letter to the editor regarding the above editorial:
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2003/01/06/editorial2.html
Nanoimprint lithography ready to make its mark. A potentially low-cost form
of lithography affectionately known as "squish and flash" by its backers is
coming to market. Three vendors have announced or released tools for the
technique, properly known as nanoimprint lithography. And the concept has
garnered enough interest among research entities in the United States,
Europe and Japan to have warranted its own conference this month. Imprint
lithography uses polymers that harden into patterns when exposed to
ultraviolet light through a 1:1 proximity mask. The patterns on the template
are written with an electron-beam system at the same line width as the
pattern on the wafer, rather than at the 4x reduction possible with
conventional optical lithography. Molecular Imprints Inc. (MII), based here,
next month will ship a development tool, the Imprio 100, with a $2 million
price tag, said CEO Norm Schumaker. Nanonex Corp. (Princeton, N.J.) is
shipping nanoimprint lithography tools that range in price from $300,000 to
$700,000. (EE Times 12/20/02)
http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20021220S0022
(AI) Composer harnesses artificial intelligence to create music. Just as
IBM's Deep Blue showed the world a computer can play chess as well as a
human master, Eduardo Reck Miranda, a researcher for the Sony Computer
Science Laboratories Inc., aims to demonstrate a computer program able to
compose original music. So far, neural networks have succeeded in imitating
distinct musical styles, but truly original compositions have remained
elusive. Miranda is tackling that problem with an orchestra of virtual
musicians - called agents - that interact to compose original music.
(EETimes 12/30/02)
http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20021230S0015
The Incredible Shrinking Technology. Nanotechnology used to be a playground
for speculation and science fiction. It is now one of the most exciting
research fields in contemporary science. It is true that nanotechnology has
been heralded as the "next big thing" for years and the excitement
surrounding it certainly increased after the dot com bubble burst and people
started looking for another wonder technology. Nevertheless, despite the
hype, big strides have been taken and more are imminent. Nanotechnology is
an umbrella term for approaches from different scientific disciplines which
share the defining element of operating within the very small world of
molecules, where distances are measured in nanometres, or millionths of a
millimetre. The computer industry has already entered the nanoworld. Chip
production operates with features as small as 100 nanometres, and they are
getting smaller. But can this success be extended to other fields? will
there be houses, cars, space stations built by manipulation on the nanometre
scale? -6pg length review.
(Financial Review 1/2/02) http://afr.com/review/2003/01/02/FFXJQLT3EAD.html
Tomorrow's technology begins today. The customarily languid pace at which
scientific research blossoms into practical applications appeared to speed
up this year with a number of discoveries being rushed toward
commercialization...Nanotechnology developed in research and development
centers run by companies like Intel and IBM made a big splash, underscoring
that technology built at the atomic level is no longer limited to academic
labs.-small paragraph concerning nanotech. (ZDnet 12/30/02)
http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/communications/story/0,2000024993,20270873,
00.htm
Tuning Carbon Nanotube Resonance Frequencies. Tuning carbon nanotube
resonance frequencies can be achieved by varying a static voltage applied
between the nanotubes and a counter electrode. This was demonstrated for
several nanotubes (NT) grown on a nickel support tip. The natural resonant
NT frequencies are those where the NT oscillates with a large amplitude, a
motion that can be monitored directly by watching the pattern of electrons
spraying out the end of the tubes (like water spraying out of a wiggling
garden hose). (Physics News Update 12/23/02)
http://www.aip.org/enews/physnews/2002/split/618-1.html
NSC upbeat on new industrial park initiatives. The National Science Council
outlined new developments and major policy programs Taiwan will implement in
order to maintain its high-tech edge over competitors at its year-end press
conference yesterday. In particular, a major direction would be attracting
investments and fresh talent for Taiwan's three major science-based
industrial parks, with the focus on "IC production in the north,
nanotechnology in the central region, and the optoelectronics industry in
the south," according to NSC Chairman Wei Che-ho. (eTaiwanNews 1/3/03)
http://www.etaiwannews.com/Taiwan/2003/01/03/1041555655.htm
The good of small things. Living cells are natural nanotechnology.
Artificial nanotech is about to give them a helping hand. Nanotechnology is
a word that seems to mean all things to all men. All it is, however, is
technology on a "nano" scale: ie, employing devices with dimensions measured
in nanometres (billionths of a metre). Since that is the scale of large
molecules, many cynics regard it as merely a fancy name for chemistry. The
inventor of the term, Eric Drexler, then an engineer at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, had greater ambitions. In "Engines of Creation", a
book published in 1986, he argued that it would be possible one day to
construct self-replicating "nanomachines" that could assemble atoms into
molecules, thus building new objects from the inside out. (Econimist.com
12/20/02)
http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=916725
Small Worlds. Nanotechnology wins over mainstream venture capitalists.
Nanotechnology is coming in from the fringe. Once dismissed as just so much
science fiction and Silicon Valley hokum, nanotechnology now represents no
less than the next industrial revolution. "If you're looking for analogies
to put the impact of nanotech into context, I'd say the invention of the
internal combustion engine is a good one," says Tim Harper, a physicist
formerly with the European Space Agency who now runs an early-stage nanotech
fund and nanotech conference group in Madrid. Talk like that would be purely
hyperbolic if not for the fact that many of the world's most prominent
scientists see this tiny art as the next big thing. (Red Herring 12/18/02)
http://www.redherring.com/insider/2001/1218/341.html
Hot stuff. Advanced materials are moving out of the lab and into the
commercial world. Once regarded as laboratory curiosities, smart materials
are beginning to make their mark on some high-profile commercial
applications. This class of materials encompasses a broad range of ceramics,
metal alloys, gels, and polymers. What sets them apart is their ability to
adapt when they're exposed to external stimuli, such as temperature,
magnetism, or electricity. Piezoelectric crystals and magneto-rheological
fluids have been around for years. Now, newer exotic alloys and polymers
with intriguing properties are joining them. Some of the more recent
arrivals in the lab, such as carbon nanotubes, are still the subject of
basic research. Yet others have made the transition into commercial
applications.
(Memmagazine Dec., 02)
http://www.memagazine.org/contents/current/features/hotstuff/hotstuff.html
Nanosphere Inc. Receives Additional $5 Million in Third Round of Financing.
Nanosphere Inc., a nanotechnology-based life sciences company, today
announced it has received an additional $5 million in third round financing,
bringing the total third round financing to $15 million. These proceeds
will provide further capital to fund the commercialization of the company's
first biomolecular detection system, which will be released in the second
half of 2003. Third round investors include Lurie Investments of Chicago,
NextGen Partners LLC of Santa Barbara, and Takara Bio Inc. of Kyoto , Japan.
(BioPortfolio.com 1/6/02)
http://www.bioportfolio.com/news/nanosphere_3.htm
Physicist proposes deeper layer of reality. New theory takes the chance out
of quantum mechanics. God does not play dice, but he might just as well do,
a Dutch physicist is suggesting. Returning to Einstein's nagging doubts
about quantum mechanics, Nobel laureate Gerard 't Hooft of Utrecht
University has begun to outline a way in which its apparent play of chance
might be underpinned by precise physical laws that describe the way the
world works. Other physicists seem impressed by 't Hooft's creativity. "The
work certainly deserves to be taken seriously," says quantum theory
specialist Richard Gill.
(Nature Science Update 1/8/03)
http://www.nature.com/nsu/030106/030106-6.html
The Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy. From the Lab to the
Battlefield? Nanotechnology and Fourth-Generation Nuclear Weapons. By André
Gsponer. In Disarmament Diplomacy No. 65, Sean Howard warned of the dangers
of enhanced or even new types of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) emerging
from the development of 'nanotechnology', an umbrella term for a range of
potentially revolutionary engineering techniques at the atomic and molecular
level.1 Howard called for urgent preliminary consideration to be given to
the benefits and practicalities of negotiating an 'Inner Space Treaty' to
guard against such developments. While echoing this call, this paper draws
attention to the existing potential of nanotechnology to affect dangerous
and destabilizing 'refinements' to existing nuclear weapon designs.
Historically, nanotechnology is a child of the nuclear weapons labs, a
creation of the WMD-industrial complex. The most far-reaching and fateful
impacts of nanotechnology, therefore, may lie - and can already be seen - in
the same area.
(The Acronym Institute oct/Nov. 02 issue)
http://www.acronym.org.uk/dd/dd67/67op1.htm
Pacific Nanotechnology Unveils Nano-IT Atomic Force Microscope. Pacific
Nanotechnology, Inc. (PNI), the global leader in high-performance,
easy-to-use, and affordable atomic force microscopes (AFMs), today announced
the new Nano-IT AFM for inspection and metrology of nanodevice wafers and
storage media disks. It has applications in R&D, process development,
failure analysis, and quality assurance for MEMS and semiconductor devices,
data storage media, magnetic read/write heads, and photonic devices. The
Nano-I AFM can routinely visualize and quantitatively measure surface
structures having nanometer-sized dimension. Priced at $100K, the Nano-I AFM
sets a new standard for affordability, yet it also offers high-performance
and ease-of-use. (Hoovers Online 1/7/02)
http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/fp.asp?layout=displaynews&doc_id=NR200301071680
2_87aa000b7312a70e
Human Cloning is the Least Interesting Application of Cloning Technology. By
Ray Kurzweil. Cloning is an extremely important technology--not for cloning
humans but for life extension: therapeutic cloning of one's own organs,
creating new tissues to replace defective tissues or organs, or replacing
one's organs and tissues with their "young" telomere-extended replacements
without surgery. Cloning even offers a possible solution for world hunger:
creating meat without animals. (Kurzweilai.net January 03)
http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=/articles/art0535.html
Nanomechanic devices warn of heart attacks. A team of scientists from the
University of Basel and IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, Switzerland, has
developed a cantilever-based device that can detect two cardiac biomarker
proteins in the bloodstream. The proteins can act as an early warning system
for heart attacks. (nanotechweb.org 1/7/03)
http://www.nanotechweb.org/articles/news/2/1/1/1
"I hope you all had a happy new year!"
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."
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Jan 15 2003 - 17:35:50 MST